Stuck in Lima
by BlueandGoldTiger
Summary: While playing a game of truth or dare with his siblings and friends, Albus Potter is dared to apparate, even though he has never done so. He succeeds though, and somehow gets stuck in Lima, Ohio and cannot apparate back. What will he do? Mostly canon from season 2, episode 16 till episode 22.
1. Truth or Dare

** NOTE: Hi everyone! This is my first fanfiction story ever. I not really much of a writer, I'm more of the person who is filled with ideas and wants to get them out somehow. And that's what I did today. I made a Glee/ Harry Potter crossover, because I love both of those things.**

**I would appreciate it if anyone who reads this would take their time to review. I would like to know what is good, and what is bad, since this is my first story ever. **

**Anyway in this story, the main characters that will be focused on are Albus Potter, Brittany Pierce and Kurt Hummel. Kurt however, won't be around for about the first 8-10 chapters. Sorry about that, but be patient and he shall arrive! Don't worry, everyone will be there too. Before you start reading (that's if you want to read it) I've got a few things to clarify.**

**I know Albus would have not been born yet at the same times as the Glee kids, but let's just pretend he was, ok?**

**This takes place in Albus sixth year at Hogwarts and Glee season 2, right after regionals. **

**If you are wondering why there is a spring break at Hogwarts, it's because I need a time where he could apparate and you can't apparate at Hogwarts. Also let's just pretend that the spring break is different in Lima and Hogwarts, so when Albus apparates there, school is happening.**

**Okay, sorry for the long message, but it's kind of important things that need to be clarified. Well, I hope you enjoy this and sorry if I don't update regularly but I'll try once a week possibly-ish. (FUTURE ME IS SPEAKING RIGHT NOW. I DON"T UPDATE ONCE A WEEK. MY GOAL NOW IS ONCE A MONTH. I PROMISE THAT I WILL FINISH THIS AND I HAVE PLANNED OUT THE WHOLE STORY)  
>Please rate, review and whatever! <strong>

**This is rate T for mild language and situations to happen in the future**

**P.S the first chapter might be kind of boring but I promise it will get better.**

**P.P.S I do not own Glee or Harry Potter**

**P.P.P.S There is some Albus/Brittany stuff in here but don't worry. Eventually there will be more Albus/Kurt focus. It mainly is a Kurt/Albus fanfic once I'm done this entire thing. So don't give up!**

Truth or Dare

It was spring break, and the Potter kids were back from Hogwarts for about a week. Albus Potter was glad to be back home to relax for a bit before the school year ended. He was in year 6, and it was very stressful for him. Professor Johnson, the Potions master, had given everyone a large essay on the effects of potions on different creatures in and outside the wizarding world. On top of that, he had to master an assortment of charms and spells, all by the end of the spring break. Albus sighed. He wished that they professors would have been a little more kind and not have given any homework to do over the break. 'Well I can always get Rose to help me with my essay and these charms', he though.

Rose was his cousin, and she was very smart, like her aunt, Hermione. Rose was a prefect last year, and her goal for next year was to become the Head girl. She had the top grades in almost every subject, except Defence against the Dark Arts, which he was the best at. Albus' dad always said that he got his DADA skills from him. When his dad, Harry Potter, was in school, he was the best in his year at DADA, while Aunt Hermione was the best at everything else.

During the break, Albus didn't do much at all, even though he should have been doing his homework. Every evening, when Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, Rose and Hugo came over for dinner, Rose would scold him and said it's his fault if he failed this year and had to redo parts of it. Albus shrugged it off; the professors liked him very much, and over the past years, he had been given many extensions and had been excused many times. But he knew they only did that because his father was Harry Potter, the greatest wizard alive who saved the entire wizarding world over 20 years ago. Every time when Albus and his family went out, at least a couple people would say "Hey, you're Harry Potter, right?" or stare at his father and his scar for a while. It irritated him at first, but over the years he got use to it. He was quite proud of his father for defeating the most evil wizard of all time.

Albus wanted to do something great in his lifetime like his father, but he knew that it would just be a dream for him. His father was one in a million. He wasn't. He was just his son, who was kind of lazy and just had big dreams. Heck, he couldn't even do his homework most of the time, even though he was smart enough to understand it. He told his father about wanting to do something great, something that could change a person's life. Harry replied that he would do something special, because everyone does something special in his life. He would just have to wait for his time to come. Albus doubted that though. He would never be able to fill his father's shoes. He would always just be Albus Potter, Harry Potter's son. But sometimes, in the back of his mind he thought, maybe, maybe I will do something great. He just wasn't sure when, where or how.

Albus was sitting upstairs with his cousins, his brother James, and his sister Lily. They were in the attic of his house, which was their hangout every time their parents got together. James was firing random spells at an empty owl cage, while Rose, Lily, Hugo and himself were playing exploding snap. James had changed over the last few years. When he started his final year at Hogwarts this year, he suddenly thought he was too good for his siblings and cousins. He didn't talk to them as much and didn't like playing games with them as much. No one knew what made him more closed up, but whenever they tried to start a conversation with him, he became agitated and was quite irritable.

James suddenly stopped firing spells. He turned to Rose, rolled his eyes, and then opened his mouth.

"I'm bored. Do you guys have anything better to do then keep playing exploding snap or Gobstones everyday day? Those games are pretty stupid."

"Well, why don't you think of something better?" Rose countered.

"I do have something better. It's called truth or dare."

"Ok, so what do you do?" Albus questioned.

"Well you ask either truth or dare, and you do a dare that the person asked or you answer a truth about yourself" James said. "I learnt it from one of my friends who grew up in a Muggle family"

"Are you sure it's a safe game to play?" Rose asked nervously. "I don't want to play anything that would get out of hand."

"Safe? Of course! But it all depends on what kind of dare you are asking. Don't worry, I've played it with my friends at Hogwarts all the time and I've only got in trouble twice," James said happily

"Only TWICE!" Rose exclaimed.

"Yes. Chill out Rose. It's not that bad. A few detentions will not ruin my future," James said.

"Well…I…ok fine," Rose spluttered. "I'll play this truth or dare. Just this once."

"Great! Are you guys in too?" James asked Albus, Lily and Hugo.

"Sure" Lily and Hugo said in unison and Albus nodded his head.

James quickly went over the rules, which were basically you must do the dare or answer the truth. Then they started.

First, James dared Rose to use Petrificus Totalus on him for 2 minutes. Rose was nervous and said she didn't want to use it for no reason. James told her to shut up and just do it.

"I'll be fine, just use the counter curse after."

"Ok, you asked for it," Rose said. "Petrificus Totalus"

James immediately froze up into a rigid position of the spell. He looked shocked for a second but regained his composure quickly. Rose immediately started counting for 2 minutes, and as soon as 2 minutes was up, she used the counter-spell 'Finite Incantatem'.

"See that wasn't too bad", James said brushing himself off. "Now it's your turn to ask someone."

Rose asked Lily a truth next. After that, Lily asked Hugo a truth then Hugo asked James to do a dare. All of them did what they were told, whether it was saying who was the last person they snogged, or turning a mouse into the size of a dog. Albus wondered why he wasn't asked anything yet. As if his mind was read, James said "Okay, you're lucky no one asked you anything yet, so now it's my turn to dare you".

"Okay go ahead, and make it a good one," Albus replied calmly.

"Oh, it is. It'" James paused. "I dare you…to apparate somewhere."

Albus was confused for a second. He hadn't learned to apparate yet. How could James expect him to do such a crazy thing?

"James, are you freaking insane? I have never apparated anywhere in my life and now you except me to disapparate all of a sudden?"

"Well this is truth or dare and I can dare you to do anything," James said smoothly.

"But James, Albus isn't even old enough to apparate yet," Rose said. "He can only take lessons once he is sixteen and a half, and his birthday is only in December."

"Yah, almost everyone else in my year has taken their lessons because they are old enough except me," said Albus. "Don't you remember when I was complaining how all my friends could apparate?"

"Yes, but you are almost old enough so why don't you just try anyway? You'll be fine. I passed my apparition test on my first try, and apparating isn't that hard at all. You're just a goody two shoes like Rose aren't you?" James said.

"No I'm not a goody two shoes! I just think it's not a good idea," Albus said. "And like I said before, I won't be able to do it."

"You never know until, you try," James said raising an eyebrow. "I'll give you pointers on how to apparate and look, if you try and succeed, I'll buy you the latest broomstick that you really wanted, the Cobraflame 2000."

Albus was silent. Right now, he currently had a crappy broomstick called the Cometstrike, which he had been using since year 2. He wanted a new one so badly, that he would do anything for it. But he never though that he would apparate for it.

Rose saw the wanting in his eyes. "Don't do it, it's just a silly game, and your current broomstick is fine. You could be splinched or even worse…"

Albus wanted to prove his brother wrong. He didn't want to be in his brother's shadow for the rest of his life. Anyway, if he didn't succeed, what was there to lose? A new broomstick that hadn't even been bought yet. He would be fine. Yes. He would do it.

"So are you going to try or not," James said impatiently. "Rule number one of truth or dare, you must do whatever you're told, no exceptions".

Without hesitation, Albus replied, "Yes, I will."

"Perfect! Okay so this is what you have to do. Think of the place you want to go, be determined to go there, turn on the spot and if you have the right amount of determination, you'll get to the place you are thinking of. Well, that's just the shorted version."

Albus stood up. "Ok that sounds easy enough. Where should I apparate to?"

"Just think outside our house, in that field nearby. It's very close so it shouldn't be a problem. And if you don't want to apparate back in here, you can just walk back to the attic," James instructed. "Good luck! You'll need it."

Albus prepared himself. He looked around the room at the faces of his siblings and cousins. Rose and Lily look quite worried and Hugo looked kind of excited.

'_Ok_ay,' he though. _'Think of the field, I want to go to the field, I really want go to the field._' He visualized a grassy field, and took a deep breath. He was ready.

Albus turned. Immediately, he fell to the ground with a thud. He opened his eyes and saw James looking at him.

"It's okay, try again," said James. "You can do it."

Albus got up and brushed himself off. '_It's ok, I can do this,_' he though. He visualized the field again, and took a couple deep breaths this time. Then he turned again.

All of a sudden, Albus felt like he couldn't breathe. The air around him was black and he felt like he was being squeezed through a small tube. His whole body was being compressed and he thought he was going to die. He wanted to scream, but he couldn't.

Just as he was sure to pass out, the ground suddenly came under him and he collapsed onto a green field. Albus rolled over, and tried to open his eyes but instead vomited onto the grass below him. He felt dizzy and had never felt this bad in his life. He tried to get up, but his legs felt like jelly. The next thing he knew, he fell again, everything went black.

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><p><strong>Don't worry if there are no Glee characters here, the next chapter will include one.<strong>


	2. Brittany

**Note: Still do not own Glee or Harry Potter**

Brittany

Albus felt like he was in some sort of limbo. Whenever he though he saw light, it would immediately turn into darkness again. Finally though, after what seemed like days, he opened his eyes, to find a blonde girl staring down on him, wiping his forehead with a wet cloth.

"Oh, you're finally awake," the girl said.

"Yah, I guess…." Albus mumbled.

"You know I had to drag you all the way under these bleachers, from the center of the field. Coach Sylvester doesn't like people sleeping on the football field, you know."

Albus slowly got up, and looked around. Where was he? This didn't look like the grass field that was outside his house. This looked like some Muggle school he has seen once before in his life.

"Where the bloody hell am I?" Albus asked, in a panicky voice. "Who are you?"

The girl looked shocked for a second, but quickly regained composure. "Why are you so mad, you're the one who appeared out of nowhere and decided to take a nap on the field. And I'm Brittany by the way."

Albus, who had so many questions, immediately forget them when the girl said he appeared out of nowhere. "Wait, y-you saw me appear out of nowhere?"

"Well yes, but don't worry, no one saw. I promise I won't tell anyone you are a wizard, cause you know only wizards could do that. Well, except Lord Tubbington."

Albus wanted to puke again, but couldn't. How would this girl know that he was a wizard? Why did she have an American accent? Was he in the USA? Oh God, he was. How did he apparate this far? More questions filled his mind, but one thing was for sure, he needed to get rid of this girl and apparate home now.

"Are you ok? You look really sick. You remind of when Lord Tubbington ate too much KFC chicken bowls," Brittany said.

Albus ignored her comment about Lord Tubbington, whoever that was, and got straight to the point. "Listen, I don't want you to tell anyone about me. Can you take me somewhere where I can be by myself for a bit?" Albus really wanted to try to apparate back home, but he couldn't do it until Brittany got out of the way.

"Um, sure. I know the perfect place. It's in the school though; I hope you can walk there." Said Brittany.

" Whatever," Albus stood up. "Let's go."

Brittany led him to the Muggle school, which was not far from the bleachers they were under. It was late evening, Albus realized, which meant he probably been passed out for a few hours, because of the time difference between England and the US. The two of them walked awkwardly in silence. Albus mind was focused on successfully apparating back home and he wasn't in the mood to talk to Brittany. Finally they reached the school doors. Brittany tried to open them but failed.

"Just what I thought, the doors are locked. I guess we will have to go the secret way. I hate sharing my secrets, but since you are a wizard, I have to do what you say."

"Um, Brittany, why do you think I'm a wizard?" Albus asked. "Not that I am, but why?"

"Don't deny it. You are a wizard, and you need to accept that about yourself. And I think you are a wizard because you appeared out of the air and you have a wand in your pocket."

Albus looked and then remember that his wand was in his pocket the whole time. Right now he could easily confund her mind, so she would forget the fact he was a wizard, but he knew that he could get in very deep trouble with the Ministry for performing magic on a Muggle.

"That's not a wand. Have you ever though that I might just like carrying large sticks in my pockets, eh?

Brittany looked at him. "I may be kind of stupid, but do you really expect me to believe that? You being a wizard is a much more logical thought."

Albus was silent as Brittany led him to the secret entrance into the school. It didn't look that secret to him; it was just a side door at the back of the school. Oh how he wished he could show her all the real secret entrances in Hogwarts.

"Pinky promise you won't tell anyone about this," Brittany said.

"Um, what?"

"Take my pinky in yours and say 'I promise not to tell anyone about this secret entrance',"

"I promise not to tell anyone about this secret entrance,' Albus muttered, putting his pinky in hers.

"Good, now I'll show you my special hangout."

The two of them walked through the empty school. It was pretty dark, except for the few lights in the halls. Albus looked around at all the weird Muggle things, like how the walls were lined with metal storages with lock on each of them, and the signs that said 'Join the chess club', 'Join the decathlon team' and 'Join the Glee club'. They once again walked in silence until Brittany stopped at a door to what Albus guessed was one of the classrooms.

"This is the Glee club classroom. Mr. Schue usually leaves the door unlocked everyday day, so I think that is the perfect place for you to stay by yourself for a bit," Brittany said.

"Thank you," Albus said kindly, wondering in his head what subject this 'Glee' was. "Thanks for helping me."

"No problem," Brittany said as she opened the door. She led him to the storage room, which was filled with strange instruments and other stuff.

"I sometimes come here by myself too, to think about things. This is like the perfect place for me to decide what Lord Tubbington should eat for his meals every day. He's on a diet by the way," Brittany commented.

"And…um… who is Lord Tubbington," Albus asked curiously, since she mentioned him a lot.

"My cat, and my second closest friend," Brittany said with a smile.

"Thanks again. And you promise you'll forget about me?" Albus asked hopefully.

"Pinky promise," said Brittany sticking out her pinky finger. Albus reluctantly stuck his pinky out and joined it with hers.

"Alright, um, bye! Nice meeting you," Albus said trying to be cheerful.

"Bye! Oh, and by the way, your accent is really hot. I was going to say that a while ago, but I kind of forgot."

Albus grinned. "Thanks. Oh and I'm Albus by the way. I was going to tell you that a while ago, but I had a lot on my mind, and forgot too."

"Okay, nice meeting you. Bye Albus, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite," Brittany said as she turned and exited the classroom. He swore she winked at him as she left.

**I do have the 3rd chapter done, but I'm just going to wait to see if anyone is reading this and also I'm going to finish the 4th chapter before I upload the 3rd**


	3. Stuck

**Hi! First I would like to thank all the people who alerted/favourited (Yes I'm Canadian so I put a u in a lot of words) and reviewed my story!** I would like to thank this people for being the first to do those things; Ixion26, novellover, grandmas-angels, MrsHummelXx, Zeze-san, theanonymousreviewer97, staroverthemountain, Wolffanforever, mariejepower, Aklea Victorie, gisellephant, and blacksista4eva. If I forgot you I'm really sorry and I'll give you a virtual hug *hug*.****

** I appreciated it and I will continue the story. I honestly can't wait to finish it because the ending and some of the stuff in between are so much better than the beginning. But of course, you have to give background and build up to the good stuff. **

* * *

><p>Stuck<p>

Albus sighed with relief. He was amazed that he kept so calm in front of Brittany, because in his heart, he was really anxious and scared. Now he could finally try apparating back home. He still wondered how he even ended up here in the US, in some Muggle filled town, but he just had to put it behind him somehow. Brittany was nice, cute and whatnot, but he really wanted to just get home and go to bed. Well, if he managed to survive apparating all that way.

Albus stood in the storage room. Okay, he thought. Remember what James said. Think of the place you want to go, be determined and turn on the spot.

Okay, here I go. Three, two, one go! Albus turned and just like when he tried to apparate the first time, he fell on the ground.

Ok, no worries. Just try again. Think home. Think mum and dad. Think James, Lily, Hugo and Rose. Albus tried again, and once again, failed and fell to the floor.

What's wrong? I've done this before. It worked. I can do it again now, right? Keep calm, breathe Albus, breathe. Once again, he failed.

Albus tried, and tried, but his luck failed. He was getting very frustrated and more anxious every second. Finally after over hundred tries, he broke down and his anger took over him.

"Why. WHY!" he yelled kicking a tuba over. "Damn it, I just want to go home."

He fell to the ground in tears. Why was this happening? How come he managed to get to a strange unknown place without trouble, but couldn't even manage to apparate back to his own house. He wanted to get back home and see his family, then go back to Hogwarts and see all his friends. It had only been a few hours, but it seemed like months since he left home. How was this even possible? Albus grabbed his hair and screamed in frustration. It was all James' fault he was even here. What a stupid game he started, truth or dare. "Damn you James, damn you to hell," Albus yelled in between sobs.

Why him? He didn't do anything wrong, yet he never seemed to do anything right. Now he was here, in the middle of a 'glee club', or whatever the hell it's called, classroom. And to make matters worse, no wizard would find him, because he apparated to an untraceable place. He was stuck. Stuck here for who knows how long. Albus rolled over on the ground onto his side. 'What am I going to do?' He thought. I mean I could use magic on someone, then some American aurors could find me, but I could get thrown into Azkaban.

One of his greatest fears was going to Azkaban, or getting in trouble. Unlike his brother, who was quite fearless, he was the total opposite. He had never been in trouble once, ever. He was afraid of all the terrible things that could happen. However, he had gotten out of doing some homework, which should have gotten him into trouble, but only because all the teachers liked him and were not that strict. But not doing homework and using magic on or in front of Muggles were two different things, one with greater consequences that the other.

"No, I'm not going to do that," he thought. "That is the last thing I would ever do. Only if someone's life was a risk, I would use magic. But I doubt that's going to happen."

Albus rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. Now what? He was tired and frustrated. Some more tears rolled down his cheeks. He was already missing everyone and he had barely been gone. I mean, come on, he went for months in Hogwarts without seeing his parents and he was fine. But this was different. There was no limit to his absence and he was in an area filled with Muggles who don't know anything about magic. Even if Brittany thought, or possible knew he was a wizard, he knew that no one else would believe that. Albus took some more deep breaths, and closed his eyes.

"I'll be fine. Just calm down and go to sleep," he thought.

The tiredness came like a wave over him, as he kept telling himself that he would be fine.

"I'll be fine, I'll be okay."

Finally after a while, Albus mind sank into darkness as he fell asleep the last words he thought of was

"I'll be fine. Don't worry. I might be stuck here, but I will be okay."


	4. Waking up in Glee Club

**Hi, everyone. Thanks again to all those who are reading and following. Once again I'll specifically thank whiteowl18, Moony-1997, Bakemono, maddiewhitewalker, fireyhell, and Iwantyourmusic for alerting/favouriting/reviewing. This is probably the last time I'll specifically thank people though, because I really don't want to save all the email alerts I get. So I guess I'll just thank all of the people in the future who will do those things and give them big virtual hugs *hug*.**

**So here is the next chapter... enjoy (and I still and never will (haha it rhymes) own Harry Potter or Glee)**

**PS- ****As a side note that doesn't really have to do with my story, you should go check out (if you haven't already) the Glee Rumour/Rumor Has it/ Someone like You mash up on the Tube of You. Why? Cause it's really good in my opinion and will probably be one of the best songs of the season! **

Waking up in Glee club

Albus had a dreamless sleep. It wasn't that he had nothing on his mind, he just couldn't dream. Albus tossed and turned on the hard floor all night but still managed to get some rest in.

Only until he was woken up by a piercing shriek.

"Oh my God!" someone screamed from the doorway.

Albus woke abruptly, and saw a short brunette girl with a look of fright standing in the room.

"Mr. Schue, Mr. Schue, there's a strange boy in the storage room," the girl said in panicked voice rushing out of the room. "I was just looking for music and I found this boy instead. I-I don't know what he is doing there or how he got there, but you've got to see this!"

Albus slowly got up, sore from the previous night sleeping on the hard, cold floor. He was quite sore and had a throbbing headache for some reason. He saw a man, with curly brown hair, who he guessed was Mr. Schue, approach the storage room.

"Excuse me," Mr. Schue said in a strict voice. "Who are you and what are you doing in this school?"

"Uh… well… I'm Albus, and I don't know really what I'm doing here." Albus said tiredly.

"Well, can you come out of this room and please leave before I call the cops."

The-the what?" Albus said confused.

"Police. Or I'm guessing they call it Bobbies from where you live. You are British, right?" Mr. Schue questioned.

"Yah, and um... I guess they do," Albus mumbled in a daze, slowly exiting the room.

'_Great, now what?' _thought Albus. _"I'm stuck in this town I don't know of, with nowhere to go, and I might possibly be arrested by Muggle police._" Albus sighed and walked out of the room, glancing around the classroom. He saw about a dozen students sitting on chairs, including the brunette girl who woke him up and…wait what? Was the Brittany, the girl he met yesterday?

"Brittany?" Albus thought out loud looking straight at her, forgetting what he told her yesterday.

Everyone looked at him, shocked that he knew who Brittany was. Mr. Schue turned around and faced him.

"You know Brittany?" he asked in a surprised voice.

"Well I met her…" Albus started.

"I don't know who this guy is," Brittany said interrupting him. "I have never met him in my life."

"Then how does he know your name?" asked Mr. Schue.

"I don't know, he might be the guy that I met on Webkinz last week," Brittany said, trying not to make eye contact with Albus.

"Mr. Schue, Brittany is obviously lying," the brunette shot in. "Look she isn't making eye contact with him, and I find that quite suspicious. Lack of eye contact is one of the signs that show someone is lying."

"Rachel, don't start making assumptions…" Mr. Schue interjected.

Brittany finally looked at him. "No, Rachel is right Mr. Schue. I do know him. He is the magical wizard I met yesterday after school."

All eyes were on Brittany now.

"Um… Brittany wizards don't exist you know," said the tall boy who was sitting in the front row.

"Yes, they do. He appeared from the air, he is definitely a wizard." Brittany told everyone.

A lot of people sighed and rolled their eyes at that comment. Albus was relieved that no one believed her, but it wasn't going to help the situation he was in.

"Brittany, I need you to tell the truth," Mr. Schue pleaded.

Brittany looked around hopelessly, biting her lip. Albus knew that she really wanted people to believe her, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. Everyone looked at her anxiously.

Brittany finally spoke up. "Okay, I was lying. He is actually my pen pal from England and he has come to stay with me for a bit."

Albus took a deep breath, relieved that she covered up for him. But now what? He had to take this lie and make it part of his life. He didn't have a choice. He was quite hopeless at this point, and now, luckily, Brittany offered him a chance to start a life here for who know how long. It pained him, thinking about his family and how worried they would be right now, but he knew he had to shove that aside and think about the future.

"So is this true, Albus?" Mr. Schue asked him.

"Uh…yes. I just came yesterday actually," Albus said, trying to be confident as possible.

"Then why were you in our storage room and not at her house?"

"We were playing hide and seek here yesterday. I thought it was a great way to introduce him to this country, since I don't think they play it that in England. He got lost though and I got bored looking for him, so I went home." Brittany cut in.

"But how did you get in this room…" Mr. Schue questioned with a look that was a mix of being confused and surprised on his face.

"I thought by now you would know that you never, ever lock this room," the Latino girl next to Brittany answered. "Seriously my girl Britt was just taking advantage of this."

"Yah, Santana is totally right. Thanks," Brittany said turning to this Latino girl, Santana.

"Well, maybe that's why our sheet music keeps disappearing. I guess I should lock the door today, " Mr. Schue said absentmindedly to himself. "Anyway, Albus I guess you should go back to Brittany's and rest. I don't think sleeping on the floor was that comfortable."

"No it wasn't and…um… I guess I'll go," Albus said. "See you later Brittany," Albus said smiling at her gratefully as he left. Brittany waved back.

Albus exited the room. Since the whole story was fabricated, he ended up wandering the school for a while, waiting till class ended, so he could talk to Brittany. He needed to make these lies true, or else he was screwed.

While waiting, Albus decided to go to the washroom and try apparating, just for kicks. He made sure that no one was in there, and tried again for what seemed like the millionth time. Again, he still had no luck_. Move on_, he told himself, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to do so.

Albus soon got hungry. He had not eaten anything in the past 12 hours, and walked around the school a lot again looking for a place like the Great Hall in Hogwarts. He did find something called a 'cafeteria' which had a lot of food waiting to be served. No one seemed to care, so he just ate there.

Finally, the end of the school day approached and Albus saw all the kids wandering the halls, and leaving the building. Albus looked around for Brittany and recognized some of the kids he saw when he woke up in the Glee classroom. _She must be here somewhere, _Albus thought. Then he saw her down the hall.

"Brittany, hey BRITTANY!" he called, trying not to get shoved by the overload of kids.

"Oh, hey Albus!" Brittany said walking towards him.

"Listen, thank you so, so much for covering up the truth." Albus said.

"Well, you're welcome, but next time you shouldn't break promises. I'll forgive you though; you were lucky this time." Brittany replied.

"I'm really sorry, it's just that, well I thought I could make it back home yesterday and I was hoping you would just forget about me and forget that this whole thing even happen, but it didn't work and I was really upset."

"Well, why are you upset? It's a fact that all wizards travel by broomstick and you clearly didn't have one so of course you're not getting home."

"Well, things are different in my wizarding world, I would like to explain, but it's complicated and I couldn't tell you anyway."

"It's okay. Well nice talking to you again," Brittany answered and started to walk away.

"Wait Brittany," Albus said quickly catching up to her, "I have one more thing to say. Since everyone who is in this Glee club of yours, thinks I'm your pen pal or whatever, and they think I'm staying with you, um could I stay at your place for the next few weeks. It would really be appreciated, since I don't have a place to stay at right now," he said lowering his voice into a whisper.

"Sure, it's not a problem. And my parents won't mind either. They like having visitors over," Brittany said nonchalantly.

Albus gave a relieved smile. "Really, thanks for everything. If I didn't meet you yesterday, I would be completely screwed."

"You're welcome," Brittany replied. "I'm heading home now, so just follow me, okay?"

"Okay. Whatever you say."


	5. Decisions

**Hi again. Thanks to all people reading my story. And thanks to the 10 people (I think) who alerted/favourited it. Well, here is the next chapter and I thought I'd mention some things.**

**If you are wondering where Kurt is he is at Dalton still probably holding hands with Blaine over a cup of coffee. He will come into the story and play a major part but you might have to wait about another 3-5 chapters. Sorry about that! I will get there I promise. Be patient!**

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**AND I don't own Glee or Harry Potter**

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><p>Decisions<p>

Albus followed Brittany home. As he was walking, he observed the surroundings, since yesterday he was too worried to care what everything was like. Lima was quite different, yet also similar, from England and the town his family lived in. It was spring time there, and there were many puddles on the streets and the air was damp, yet kind of refreshing. The houses were much bigger and it seemed for open.

They finally reached Brittany's house. It was on the end of a cul-de-sac and it had a large front yard. As soon as they got in Brittany gave a quick tour of her house.

"This is the living room. You sit and watch TV in here." Brittany said. Albus was going to ask what 'TV' was but they immediately moved to the next room.

"And this is the kitchen. We eat and cook food here."

"Never would have guessed," Albus mumbled to himself.

They moved upstairs after. Brittany showed him where the washroom was and then showed him her room.

"And this is my favourite room the house," Brittany told him as she opened the door. Albus observed her room. It was very neat, clean and nice. There was one wall full of pictures, of her friends and family and another wall full of posters. Albus almost expected them to move, like the posters he had in his room, but then he remembered that they were Muggle posters. Albus suddenly had a wave of sadness come over him; remembering his room and his small but lovely house back in England. He regained composure and replied back to Brittany.

"Nice room. It's very tidy. So now, where am I going to sleep?" Albus asked.

"Well I haven't planned that yet, but I have an idea," Brittany answered.

She walked out of her room and Albus followed behind. She turned to the room next door. On the door, there was a label that said 'Lord Tubbington's room' then under it 'Do not enter, unless you are Brittany or I have granted you my permission'. Brittany opened the door and a waft of bad smell came out.

In the middle of the room was a large blue and red bed, and there were a bunch of cat toys scatted over the floor. On the middle of the bed was a very fat cat with white and grey fur.

"Sorry for the mess, Lord Tubbington has been kind of lazy lately and didn't want to clean his room," Brittany told him. "Okay, well my idea is that I move Lord Tubbington out of here into my room, and then you can sleep here, for now. I don't think that Lord Tubbington would be too pleased to be out of his room for long."

"Err… but why do you have a room for your cat anyway?" Albus asked, while wrinkling his nose.

"Well we had a spare bedroom so I thought it would be a perfect idea to make it into Lord Tubbington's room. But now, I guess it can be yours!"

"Wow, thanks. It's a nice room and I know that you like your cat very much so thanks!" Albus said.

"No problem, but can you please stop thanking me though? It's kind of freaking me out how many times you have said thanks today," Brittany said seriously.

"Oh," Albus said caught off guard. He was used to using manners a lot around strangers, professors and people he just met. His parents said that without manners, you might as well have been a Death Eater. A Death Eater was one of the Lord Voldemort's (the evil wizard who has dad defeated), followers. "Sorry, it's just that my parents told me to say thank you whenever it is necessary and like I said before I am really thankful for everything you've done."

"Okay, I understand but there is no need to thank me anymore," Brittany replied. "I've helped you and now you can help me clean up this room and move Lord Tubbington to mine."

The two of them cleaned up the room, putting all the toys into a bag and moving them, and cleaning and moving the litter box too. They also changed the bed sheets (since they had a urine smell on them). They also used something called 'air freshener', and sprayed the room with it to give a nice, piney smell, which remind him of the forest they went to for Care of Magical Creatures. At least it covered up the horrid smell that was there before.

Albus never realized how much work having a cat was for a Muggle. His sister had a pygmy puff, which was easy to look after, and required hardly any work at all. Cleaning up this room meant for her cat (which he found kind of crazy), took at least an hour. Once they were done, Albus settled onto the bed. It was nice having somewhere soft and comfy to sleep, since he previously slept on the floor before.

"Brittany, do you have any spare clothes that I could wear, since well these are the only clothes I have?"

"I think my dad has old clothes. They might be kind of big, since my dad wore them, like, before he was on the Jenny Craig diet or something, but I don't have anything else for you to wear other than my old cheerleading uniform. You would look hot in it," Brittany said to him, while Albus looked at her strangely.

Brittany left the room and shortly after words, she came back with a pile of old jeans and t shirts.

"Thank… I mean these clothes will do," Albus said as he looked through the pile of clothes that looked like they were twice his size.

"No problem, as usual. So, do you want something to eat? It's pretty much dinner time now," Brittany asked him.

"Nah, I'm good, I had a late lunch. I think I'll just sit here and think for a bit."

"Okay, well see you in the morning," Brittany said to him, while picking up Lord Tubbington off the carpet. "Lord Tubbington wishes you a good night's sleep too."

"Okay, see you," Albus said as she exited the room.

Albus lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He took out his wand from his pocket, and twirled it around in his fingers. He was tempted to use it for anything, but he knew that wasn't right.

He sighed. Well now what could he do? He honestly didn't want to stay in Brittany's house all day, because that would be boring. _Maybe I could go and explore the town tomorrow_, he thought_. Or maybe I could start learning more about what Muggles do. Yeah, that's what I'll do. Then possibly after a week or 2, I could join Brittany's school and start taking up a Muggle education._ Albus didn't know too much about Muggle things. His Aunt Hermione was born into a Muggle family and explained a few things about them, but since he was surrounded by wizards his whole life, he mostly knew everything about the wizarding world. _I guess I'll ask Brittany some things tomorrow._

He closed he eyes and thought to himself some more. He wished he could turn back time and not have joined James in this truth or dare game. But he didn't have a time turner on him so that was never going to happen. He was missing them more each second, but he had to look forward and deal with the adversities and situations that were going to come ahead. He was tempted to try apparating again, but he already tried today and was too tired to do so again. _Tomorrow, I will_, he thought. _If I try every day, I must succeed at least once sometime._

But for now, he would start learning the Muggle customs. And not just any Muggle customs, American Muggle custom. He knew that England and America had quite a few differences in the way they did things and the words they used to describe things. He needed to know how to fit in, and know what to do. And tomorrow, with help from Brittany, he would try to start a new life, until he could figure out how to get back home.


	6. Learning

**Thanks again to all those who alerted/favourited. I appreciate that you are giving this story a chance, even though it is taking a while to get to the good stuff.**

**Special thanks to Moony-1997 who is an avid fan of this! You are awesome!**

**Reviews make me smile, so go ahead and make my day a little better :)**

**I don't own Glee and HP. done.**

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><p>Learning<p>

Albus woke up the next morning and was hungry, considering he hadn't eaten anything the night before. He got up out of bed, took a quick shower, changed into Brittany's dad's clothes (which were very baggy just as he thought) then headed downstairs. He also took his wand out of his jeans pocket and stored in a drawer nearby, so he wouldn't be tempted to use it.

In the kitchen, were Brittany and people whom Albus guessed were her parents. He also guessed it was Saturday, because Brittany should have been in school by now.

"Good morning Albus," Brittany said happily. "We are having pancakes right now, want some?"

"Sure," Albus said pulling out a chair. "I'm starving."

"So this is the guy who is your pen pal that we never knew about, who is staying here," Mr. Pierce said.

"Yah he is. And like I said before, he's staying in Lord Tubbington's room. We cleaned it out yesterday," Brittany replied.

"Well at least you had the guts to clean that darn awful room." Mr. Pierce said with a chuckle.

"So Albus, what brings you here anyway?"

Albus, who had a mouthful of pancakes in his mouth, gulped them down quickly. "Uh well I just wanted to experience what life is like here in America."

"And how do you find it?" Mrs. Pierce joined in.

"It's interesting so far."

"Well I hope will make your stay enjoyable. I mean, we had such short notice about your arrival; Brittany only told us last night." Mrs. Pierce said.

"Don't worry, I'll manage. It might just take a while to get used to things…" Albus said choosing his words wisely, "but hopefully I won't be a problem."

"Of course you won't. We have had exchange students here before when Brittany was in middle school and they are always very nice and helpful. It's been awhile though, but we'll be fine."

They all finished up breakfast and cleaned the dishes. After that, Albus tapped Brittany on the shoulder.

"Can we take for a bit? I have some questions to ask."

"No problem," she said as they walked up stairs. The two of them entered Brittany's room.

"So as you know, I'm a wizard. Well, that's what you think right?" Albus asked.

"No, it's the truth. It's just no one ever believes what I say. All my friends say 'Brittany no magical creatures exist' and I tell them 'well have you ever seen one before?' and they say 'no, but no one ever has seen them'. They think you have to see something to believe it. Well I think you don't". Brittany said to him.

"But you said you saw me appear out of nowhere. Isn't that seeing something and believing it?"

"Yes, so that proves you are a wizard," Brittany replied. Albus was impressed that she could believe such things, because he knew for a fact that Muggles were very hesitant to believe in magic and wizards. But he knew that no one else but Brittany would believe anything he said about being a wizard.

"Okay. I get it. I'm a wizard, right? So what if I told you that in my wizarding world we don't use the things you Muggl… I mean non- magical people use."

"Like what?"

Albus looked around the room for an object he didn't really know much about. Then he spotted it. In the corner was an odd small white device, with an apple on the back of it.

"Um… that," he said pointing directly at it.

"Oh, that's a computer. Well, it's my computer," Brittany said back to him.

"What does a computer do?" Albus asked her, wanting to know more about how computers work. He had heard the term used before, but had no clue how they worked.

"Well, you on it," Brittany said hesitantly.

"And…" Albus asked hopefully.

"Well, I'm not sure what you do next. I just learned how to on it a few months ago. Before I didn't know at all how to turn on a computer, so it was kind of a big deal for me."

"Wait, if you don't use it, why do you have it?" Albus questioned.

"Because my parents said I needed one to do homework on. But I like hardly do homework so I don't really use it."

Albus sighed. He knew computers were a big deal for Muggles, almost like how wands were very important for wizards, but if Brittany didn't know how they worked, he was screwed. He needed someone to teach him about computers.

"Well, do you know someone who can teach me how to use it? It would really be helpful!"

"Yes. Yes I do. My boyfriend Artie is like a genius with them. He could help you," Brittany said with enthusiasm.

"You have a boyfriend?" Albus asked, even though it was obvious that a girl like her would have a boyfriend.

"Of course. And he is absolutely a wonderful boyfriend. On a scale of 1 to 10, with one being the least awesome person in the world, and 10 being the most awesome, I would give him an 8." She paused. "Okay, maybe an 8.5 or 9. Definitely no more than 9.8, because there is always room for improvement. I'm holding out for a 10, though, because I'm worth it."

Albus didn't know what to say next. He just stared at her, confused. Luckily, Brittany finally broke the awkward silence.

"Okay; I can call him right now for you, and he'll teach you."

"Sure. That's great," Albus replied, finally relieved that he was getting somewhere.

Brittany called Artie and within minutes, he was there. The doorbell rang and Brittany and Albus went downstairs to open the door. Brittany opened it, and Albus he looked out and then saw a boy in what looked like a chair on wheels, at the door. He was wearing an argyle vest and had glasses and had a huge smile on his face. However, Albus didn't understand why he was sitting on this funny black chair with two large wheels.

"Hey Brittany," Artie said.

"Hi Artie," Brittany replied planting a kiss on his cheek, and helping move him into the house.

"And who might this be?" Artie asked, analysing Albus from head to toe.

"Don't you remember? It's my pen pal Albus. I told you the other day," Brittany said to him, showing no signs on her face that she was lying.

"Oh yeah, the British guy who was sleeping in the storage room. I totally forgot about him because that wasn't weird and normal at all," Artie said sarcastically.

"Well, I didn't really have a choice," Albus told Artie.

"I see, I see," Artie said, not taking him seriously. "So what can I do for you? Brittany said you needed help on something and I was the guy for the job."

"Well I don't know how to use a computer," Albus said awkwardly.

"Actually?" Artie said with disbelief. "How do you even survive in a world like this without a computer? Do you live under a rock or something? How do watch porn?" Artie said in a hushed voice.

"What?" Albus asked.

"Ignore that, I was just thinking to myself," Artie told him.

"Artie don't be so harsh on him. I don't know how to use one either. He needs to learn." Brittany said nicely at him.

"Well, Brittany, you're different," Artie replied, then turned to Albus. "Okay, I'll teach you. But only because Brittany is fond of you, and I don't want her to get mad or dump me," he said in a lowered voice.

"Sounds like a plan," Albus replied. "I just have a quick question, why are you sitting on a chair with wheels?

Artie looked offended for a second, but replied, "A wheel chair you mean? My legs don't work. I was in a car accident so I have you wheel this baby around for my whole life."

"Oh, I'm sorry. That's was kind of rude, I didn't know…"Albus said shocked.

"It's okay, but you've never seen a guy in a wheelchair before?" Artie questioned.

"No, this is the first time," Albus said trying not to blush with embarrassment

"Your one strange kid, I tell you." Artie said, shaking his head as they headed to the kitchen.

3 hours later, Albus finally understood how the computer worked. They used Brittany's computer (Albus learned that it's specifically called a laptop) and once Brittany demonstrated that she could on it (Artie congratulated her on that), Artie explained about this thing called the 'internet' and all the other things you could do, while Brittany sat nearby, watching them. Albus also asked what a TV, microwave and iPod was, since Artie mentioned them briefly while explaining the computer. Artie looked shocked when he asked, but reluctantly told him what those were too. However he was thankful that Albus knew what a phone was though. Albus also understood why the internet and computers were so important to Muggles; they spent so much time on it and there was so much you could do. Without it, their life would be boring.

"So do you get it? Do you get how to search on Google and find what you want? Artie asked. And do you get everything else I taught you?"

"I think so. This internet is quite an amazing thing," Albus exclaimed.

"I still can't believe you have never used this before. Are you like part of a British Amish colony or something?"

"Uhh…" Albus said, not sure how to reply. "No, my family just doesn't use computers or any of those things."

"It's because he has a wand, he doesn't need any of those things," Brittany cut in. "Wands are like the most powerful things ever." Artie and Albus turned around and glared at her.

"Brittany, we have gone over this before. Wizards don't exist," Artie told her kindly.

"I know you aren't going to believe me, but you aren't going to change my beliefs," Brittany told him.

"I know. I know. I was just stating what I thought," Artie said to her, even though he thought he was speaking the truth. "I do wish they existed though, but that would only be a World of Warcraft fantasy."

"Whatever," Brittany replied, leaving the room.

Artie turned to Albus, who quietly exhaled with relief that Artie still didn't believe her. "Why does she think you're a wizard? Where in the world did that come from?"

"I'm not too sure either," Albus admitted, not wanting to tell the truth.

"She believes in many crazy things, you know, but this is just plain weird. And I, as her boyfriend have to deal with all this. At Christmas, she thought Santa was real, and I had to get the football coach to pretend to be Santa so she could be happy, and not hurt. Hurting her is the worst thing that could happen." Artie said.

"Well, she's lucky to have you," Albus replied, touched at his thoughts. "You care about her a lot, I see."

"Yeah," Artie said quietly. "Anyway, I don't really know why I'm telling you all this. I just came to teach you how to use computer," Artie said as he started to wheel towards the door.

"Yah, and that was really helpful. Thanks a lot." Albus told him

"No problem. Enjoy your stay here, wait, how long are you staying again?"

"I'm not too sure. Till I get sick of it perhaps," Albus said keeping his voice level as possible.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around," Artie said as Albus helped him out the door.

Suddenly Brittany burst down from upstairs. "Wait, Artie. You can't leave until I have said bye to you too," she exclaimed. "Bye, Artie."

"Bye, Britt," he said waving at her.

"Well, nice meeting you," Albus said at Artie. "See you."

"See you around, Amish."


	7. Homesick

**You know the drill. And special thanks to whiteowl18 for picking up on the AVPM reference. **

**In 2 chapters, Kurt will finally make his appearance! I hope you are as excited as I am!**

** AND I don't own Glee or Harry Potter. Obviously. **

Homesick

After Artie left, Albus grabbed something to eat from the fridge before he went upstairs to start exploring some more on the computer. He first searched up who the Amish were (apparently group of people who didn't use electricity, that definitely did not describe him) then 'surfed' (a term he learned from Artie) the internet. He was very tempted to ask his parents to get him one, once he got home. He spent the rest of the afternoon on it, searching up things like Hogwarts, wizards and magic, hoping to find something that would help him. Alas, he couldn't find anything that had to do with his real wizarding world. He sighed. Yes, the internet was useful, but there were so many things on it and it was useful only to a certain extent. _I'll try again tomorrow,_ he thought.

Logging off, he decided that maybe he should try looking up other things, like libraries for information. He went to ask Brittany where the nearest library was, but she said she didn't go to them, so she had no clue where they were. Even though Brittany was nice, she really wasn't the most helpful person.

Albus went to call Artie (who gave his phone number to him) to ask where the library was. Thankfully, he knew and gave directions there (the library was not that far away). As soon as he finished calling him, Albus ran off to the library in search of a book on magic.

Once he got there he asked the librarian (who was far nicer than the one at Hogwarts) whether she had any books on magic. She showed him the section, but it was full of books of Muggle magic, which he found very stupid_. Okay, so the library isn't helpful for wizardry, but it is probably useful for Muggle things,_ he thought.

Albus then looked around the library for books on things Muggles did. He checked out an assortment of books, from cookery books to magazines to popular story books. He needed to catch up with their culture. Once purchasing a library card, he left the library with a handful of books and walked back to Brittany's house.

Once he got there he tried to knock on the door, but since his hands were so full, he just ran into the door with a thud. The door opened and Brittany opened it.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"Um, the library. Artie told me where it was, so I swung by to get books." Albus said embarrassed.

"Oh, yeah, now I remember. Sorry I couldn't tell you where it was. I don't really read; it's not my thing."

"It's fine. I think I'll be spending the next few days in my room reading. In my wizarding world…"

"You don't read there?" Brittany interrupted.

"No, we do. I have to, to pass school. It's just that, I really need to learn what you guys do. So I'm reading about you," Albus answered.

"I'm in a book? Is it about unicorns?"

Albus wanted to slap his forehead, but since his hands were full of books he couldn't do so.

"No you're not in a book. Never mind. I'll just be reading a lot the next few days"

"Okay. So you're not coming to school with me on Monday? It would be fun having you around and introducing you to everyone!"

"Sorry, I can't yet. I mean I can't just join your school until I understand what non-wizards do."

"That's cool. Well, have fun reading. I wouldn't have fun reading though."

Albus headed upstairs to his room. He plopped the books on his bed and looked longingly at the drawer where his wand was. Oh how he wanted to grab the wand and fire some spells around for no reason, but he knew that was a very stupid thing he could do. He wasn't going to get arrested here even if that meant going home.

_I think I'll try apparating again. I haven't today, yet, _he thought.

Albus stood and closed his eyes picturing home. He imagined his room, nice and comfy, and was fully determined to go there. _Three, two, one..._

He spun around, but to his dismay, didn't go anywhere. He exhaled loudly. It was already his third day here and nothing was working. Each day he was more determined to go home, but every time he tried to apparate, it was like that goal was getting further and further away.

_Well there is always tomorrow, _he thought trying to keep his hopes up. Even if nothing was working, he was not going to try going to give up yet.

The next week he spent in Brittany's house on her computer and reading all his books he got. He learned a lot about Muggles, and their hobbies, like going on this social networking site called 'Facebook' and a site that played videos called 'YouTube'. He didn't want to sign up for Facebook yet because he didn't know anyone on it, but he spent a good chunk of his time on YouTube. He would watch random videos that people made, like cat and dog videos as well as music videos by Muggle singers.

He also accidently came across what was known as a porn site. Never, ever again was he going to make that mistake.

He also learned about the sports they played, such as soccer (football in England), the other football (which looked more dangerous than English football) basketball, hockey and baseball. As he was flipping through the book on sports he got, there was a familiar pang in his chest. By now, he would be practising Quidditch, the most popular sport in the wizarding world, on the field, along with his friends and James.

James. He felt like stunning him across a room, yet deep down he missed him. Albus could feel his eyes watering. He really wanted to go home now. But as the time passed, he felt like he was underwater sinking, and it was getting harder and harder to reach the surface.

Every day when Brittany came back from school she would talk to him and ask him how things were going. Albus would always reply with 'Fine' or 'I'm good, I've learned a lot'. But that wasn't the truth. Each day he was feeling worst inside, even though he chose not to show it. Then he would tell Brittany a story about his wizarding world at her request, but as he told it, his emotion felt like bursting out and taking him over, though on the outside he kept his cool. After she gave him her daily hug and left his room, Albus would start crying into his pillow and letting the pain of losing his life take him over.

He knew he was homesick. Sure, on the first day he was angry and upset, but he had hope he could make it back. But day by day, his hope was slipping away. He tried to apparate a couple of times, and of course failed. _Just keeping trying, you'll do it someday, _he told himself, but he had troubling believing it as the time passed.

Albus got off his bed and stood, preparing to do his daily apparition attempt. It felt like routine now, but pointless routine.

_Three, two, one,_ he though as he tried to think of home.

He failed.

_It's okay, just try again, you will do it._

Nothing happened again.

_No, I can do this I can. It's possible. I will get home now._

Then for what seemed like the millionth time, he failed.

His anger then once took control of him. It was like the first day all over again. He screamed.

"WHY CAN I FRIGGIN' DO THIS! WHY AM I A USELESS WIZARD!" he yelled as he picked a library book off the floor and threw it at the wall. He then picked up another book and threw it at the wall as it made a loud thud and crashed to the ground. "JUST LET ME GO HOME!"

Suddenly the door burst open. Brittany was standing there with a shocked expression on her face.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "Did someone break in…?"

"Brittany," he said, his voice hoarse, "Can you just let me be by myself?"

"Well, if you insist. Is there anything I can do?" Brittany said with concern.

"No. Leaving would be the best you can do."

"Okay, well, sleep tight," she said trying to cheer him up, as she closed the door.

Albus looked out the window that was in his room. He felt like giving up. Maybe he should give up. What was the point of being a wizard if he couldn't successfully go home? He knew that it was just a fluke that he got here, but if he could get here without trying, why couldn't he get home when his heart was so set on it. He didn't feel like a real wizard anymore, he felt like a poser, someone who was trying their best to succeed but failing every second.

He walked across the room to his drawer and opened it. Inside was his wand. 8 ½ inch, maple, and phoenix feather. He could picture the wand maker saying that to him, 6 years ago when he got his wand. He was getting emotional. He picked it up in his hand and twirled it. If he was going to give up because nothing was working for him here, he might as well break it and forget about his pass life and move on. He couldn't hold onto the magical things any longer. He continued to stare at it.

_No, I can't do this,_ he thought_. This would be too much. I think I should just chuck it out the window._

He walked across the room to his window and opened it. Was he really going to do this? Yes, he would. It was quite necessary and he knew that he must get rid of this in order to live life here.

Albus took one last look at his wand and threw it as hard as he could out the window into the darkness.

_Did I just really get rid of my wand? Why the hell did I just do this?_

But he knew why he did that. He was giving up. Giving up on what brought him here, giving up on what he knew for 17 years. He would stop apparating because it was going nowhere. Why should he bother continuing if it wasn't working? He would blend into the Muggle life style and move on. Even though it would take a very long time to do, but it was necessary. He walked across the room and offed the light and hopped into his bed. He was done with everything that involved wizards. He remembered that he told himself that he would try to live a new life until he figured out how to get back home. Well, now it was just living a new life. All his hope was gone.

Albus closed his eyes, and sadness and anger passed over him. He didn't want to forget his family, Hogwarts and his friends. But if he kept holding onto the pass and everything that had to do with magic, he would not get anywhere here. He had to accept the fact that it was pointless trying to go back, even if he wanted to go back home with all his heart and soul. He had to accept that he wasn't a real wizard anymore.

_Tomorrow,_ he thought as he started to drift into darkness_. Tomorrow I will become Albus Potter, the 16 year old Muggl...no human boy, who was just ordinary. And nothing, absolutely nothing, would change my mind._


	8. In Dreams

**Hi, again! Thanks to everyone still reading. It's good to know that people like this so far!**

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**PS. Next chapter is not from Albus' POV it's from Kurt's. And it contains Klaine. Yay for Klaine (if you like Klaine)**

In Dreams

Albus awoke to a brightly lit, white room. It was completely empty, except for a small portrait of a man on the far side of the room where he was sitting. _Where the heck I'm I_, he thought. He squinted trying to see who the portrait of the wizard was from his side of the room, but could barely tell who it was so he just decided to get up and check.

He stepped towards the portrait and took a good look at it. The portrait was of a man with a long white beard and hair, half- moon spectacles and a glint in his eyes, like he knew something that no one else knew. He was going to read the name of this person next when a voice behind him startled him.

"I see you found my picture."

Albus turned around to see the exact man in the portrait, in the flesh right behind him. He was wearing a long dark blue wizarding robe and held a wand in his hand, so Albus guessed he was a wizard. There was something familiar about this man, even though he had met him before in his life. It was like he knew who he was, but never actually saw him.

"Do I know you? You seem kind of familiar," Albus asked the wizard.

"No, but I do know people who know you," the man replied. "And we have the same name."

"Your name is Albus too? " Albus said, as something had just clicked in his mind. Suddenly, he knew who this man was. "That means…"

"That I'm Albus Dumbledore. That's what you were going to say, right?"

"Yes, how did you know? And how do you know who I am?"

"I just know things," Dumbledore said casually. "And I did know your father very well."

"But I wasn't born when you knew… wait," Albus replied as something clicked in his head again. "Aren't you dead?"

"Precisely."

"Then how are you talking to me?"

"Haven't you realized yet, or does it take a while for someone in your situation to notice these things."

Albus thought for a moment. "So is this a dream?"

"Yes, of course," Dumbledore said as he paced around the room.

"But I have never met you before. How can you appear in my dream? I mean I have just seen newspaper clippings and stuff of you…"

"Anything is possible and you should know that."

Albus looked at him strangely, "Are you referring to my apparition to here in Lima?"

"Exactly. And that's why I'm here. To answer you many questions and convince you to not forget that you are a wizard."

Albus stared at Dumbledore for a bit. He knew he was very wise and helped his father figure out how to defeat Lord Voldemort, but this was kind of strange. Dumbledore wasn't alive, so how could he know any of these things?

"How can you help me? I've tried to apparate back home many times but failed, yet I seemed to apparate completely fine to Lima. You're dead. You're useless." Albus said coldly.

Dumbledore looked hurt for a second, but answered back. "Just because I'm dead Albus, doesn't mean I'm useless. I have a theory on why you got here, Albus, and how you can get back home. Do you want to hear it, or would you rather just wake up and live an ordinary life of a Muggle for the rest of your lifetime?'

Albus looked at him, his heart beating fast. A way home? That was what he wanted to do, right, find a way home? "Go on," Albus said.

"The reason why you are here; it's one word. Destiny."

"Destiny? What kind of destiny is this. Being stuck a place that I don't know of, trying to lead a normal life and fit in. It's not destiny it's bull…"

"But why else would you be here? You know, very few wizards can apparate across continents. Yet, a sixteen year old boy, managed to do this without even apparating before. You are meant to be here. You are meant to do something important. It is part of the road of life, and you must accomplish something here before you can move on," Dumbledore said wisely.

"But what exactly can I do? I can't use magic so how can I help someone?"

"People make a difference all the time without magic. Muggles do it every day, whether it a small thing like helping a friend, or a big thing like saving a life."

"Okay, I must make a difference. How? What do I do?"

"Well, I'm afraid I can't tell you that. You are just going to have to figure out on your own. Mostly likely there would be a time, where you will have to make a choice, that will make a difference and help someone greatly."

"But what? And when? And how will this bring me back home?" Albus asked desperately.

"You accomplishing something, and figuring out your destiny, could bring you back home, if going back is part of your destiny. How long will it take? I don't know."

"Are you saying that I might not go home at all?" Albus said quietly.

Dumbledore looked at him seriously. "Well, you were going to give up going home anyway. Why not take a chance and try to do something here?"

Albus thought for a second. He was right. But what was he supposed to do? He knew. He would have to join Brittany's school and get to know everyone. He would have to continue a life here, and know that the only way he was getting home was to follow his destiny and not do anything. He had to try to reach a goal, and that goal was to get back home. Doing something was better than doing nothing.

"Okay. I think I get it. I must go and join a school and see what will happen. If it is my destiny to be here, then I might as well make the most of it." Albus said, as a new hope surged through his body. He was feeling confident, and all his plans of giving up and being a Muggle were gone. He was here for a reason, and he needed to put his heart into it.

"Good Albus, you are finally thinking." Dumbledore said.

"I just have one question. What do I do with my wand?"

"Keep it with you. You cannot forget that you are a wizard, even though you aren't using it, it should be a reminder. The only circumstance that you can use it in is if you must defend yourself from a dangerous oncoming attack."

"Thanks Dumbledore. I mean, I was just going to give up on everything, but you made me realize that I was wrong."

"You're welcome. I just wanted to point out that giving up wouldn't help; you need to believe in yourself and make a move."

"I know, Dumbledore I know."

"Most importantly, remember, you're a wizard Albus, you're a wizard and don't ever forget that."

Albus woke up. He was Brittany's house again. _What a strange dream I had_, he thought. But he somehow remembered every word of it. It was not just a regular dream, it was more than that. He knew what he had to do, and he was going to do it.

Albus leaped out of his bed and sprinted to Brittany's back yard, to retrieve his wand that was somewhere back there. He looked around the yard, but couldn't find it at all. He panicked for a bit, but he kept cool and rational and decided to ask Brittany if she had seen it, or went into the backyard.

Albus went back upstairs and decided to knock on her door.

"Brittany, can I…"

"Just open it Albus."

He opened her door and found her brushing her hair and humming to the song that was on her radio.

"Hey can I ask you something?" Albus said to her.

"Are you looking for this?" she replied pointing to his wand on her dresser. "I found your wand this morning when I was taking Lord Tubbington out for his daily backyard exercise time. You know you shouldn't leave your wand unattended. You need it because all wizards need wands. Why was it in the backyard?"

"Never mind why it was out there. Thank you for finding it." Albus said giving her a hug.

"You're welcome, I guess." Brittany said as she hugged him back.

As they hugged, Albus managed to hear the song that was playing along in the background.

_Every day I see my dream_

_Every day I see my_

_Every day I see my dream_

_Every day I see my dream_

"Brittany, who is singing that song that's playing?" he asked.

"Um, I think the group is called ROFL but I'm not 100% sure."

He thought for a bit, and realized that one line described his life a bit. Every day, he would see his dream, his dream of going home. And he wasn't going to forget it. He turned to Brittany, with a new positive energy inside of him and spoke to her.

"Brittany, could you do be a favour?"

"Sure, what?" Brittany replied.

"I think I'm ready to join your school. Can you help me get in?"


	9. Moving Back

**Klaine! Nuff' said.**

**And I don't own Glee or Harry Potter. - the disclaimer**

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><p>Moving Back<p>

Kurt Hummel took a deep breath as he headed into the coffee house, where he would meet his boyfriend Blaine Anderson every day. Usually it was the best part of his day, but today he was a bit nervous because he had to talk about something very important with him.

Kurt entered the place and saw Blaine sitting in their regular spot, looking dreamy as usual. Kurt rushed to the seat, his heart beating faster as he got closer to him.

"Hey Kurt." Blaine said smiling as Kurt approached.

"Hey Blaine," Kurt said as he scanned the table. "So I see you already bought coffee for me."

"Well I do know your order by now. You would think that your boyfriend should know these things."

"You're right as usual. Well thanks for the coffee," Kurt said gratefully pulling up a chair. Blaine was just too perfect sometimes.

"No problem," Blaine replied giving the cute smile that would always make Kurt feel warm inside.

"So, did you get my text?" Kurt asked casually.

"Yes, I…"

"Well, you didn't text me back," Kurt said exasperated.

"I didn't because we were going to see each other in 5 minutes so it was kind of pointless."

"Alright. But this time it was important."

"I could tell. You put at least 10 exclamations marks at the end of the message." Blaine said. "So what do you want to tell me?"

Kurt took a deep breath. He had rehearsed what he was going to say to Blaine many times but this time he was worried. He didn't want to hurt his feelings, but he had to tell him sooner or later.

"Blaine, how would you feel if I decided to move back to McKinley?"

Blaine stared at him for a second, then picked up his coffee and took a sip of it.

"But I thought you hated it there?"

"Well I didn't hate it there, it's just…you know what happen," Kurt said rolling his eyes.

"Yes, but why do you want to move back all of a sudden?"

Kurt held his breath for a second, hoping Blaine wouldn't be offended. "I-I miss my friends a lot, and you know that right?"

"Kurt, I know that's not the whole truth. There's something else you want to tell me." Blaine reached out for Kurt's hand that wasn't around his coffee and held it. "You know you can tell me anything, just be honest Kurt, you wouldn't want to go back just for your friends all of a sudden."

Kurt's heart raced as Blaine touched his hand, and he sighed. Blaine seemed to know his every thought. He knew that he was only telling part of the truth.

"Okay, well I do want to go back for my friends, I miss them so much, but I think going back right now is perfect because…well… Karofsky has decided to stop bullying."

Memories of Karofsky flashed before him, painful memories of him being shoved into lockers and being hit by the cold and disgusting feeling of being slushied. But the memory that stood out he most was when Karofsky took him by surprised and kissed him, coming out to him that he was gay. All that anger that was taken out on him was from the fact that Karofsky was just jealous of Kurt being proud about his sexuality and not being afraid to be himself.

Blaine looked surprised for a second. "Actually? Does this mean he has come out yet?"

"No not at all. Quite the opposite. He is just doing this to get prom votes for him and Santana. They created this thing called the Bully Whips and are trying to help stop bullying at the school, so people would look up to them and vote for them."

"Him and Santana? Those are like the last 2 people who I would think would want to stop bullying. Wait does that mean he is also using Santana as a beard…?"

"I pretty sure it does mean that," Kurt said as a matter of fact.

"But what if Karofsky is faking? You said he was doing this just to get…."

"I know." Kurt cut in. "I was suspicious of that too. I talked to him though. And he is really sorry for what he has done. Honest to God."

"He could just be saying…"Blaine said doubtfully

"No, I think he means it this time. Truly means it," Kurt said happily. "So what do you think?"

Blaine looked sadly at him and gave a look that broke Kurt's heart. Kurt could tell that he didn't want him to leave Dalton, but behind his eyes he saw understanding. Blaine touched his hand again.

"I-I really don't want you to leave. But Kurt, I want you to be happy," Blaine paused looking at him longingly. "And if that means going back to McKinley to be with all your friends, then you can go back."

Kurt breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to leave Dalton either, but he knew that it was the best for him and his family. His dad Burt was having trouble paying for tuition for Dalton and he would be happy if Kurt could safely move back to McKinley.

"You mean this?

"Absolutely. I will miss you though. A lot." Blaine said smiled sadly.

"And I will miss you so much, you don't even know how much," Kurt said getting teary eyed.

"Don't get all emotional here okay," Blaine said trying to cheer him up a bit. "We will still see each other every day."

"I know, I couldn't go on without seeing you. Actually, I don't even know where I would be at without meeting you."

The two of them smiled at each other. Kurt knew he was the luckiest boy in the world to have met him, and have him as his boyfriend. He didn't want to screw anything up with him; it would hurt him so bad if Blaine broke up with him.

"Well," Kurt said standing up with his coffee, "I guess I should be heading off now. I've still got to tell my dad and Carol."

"You haven't told them about your plans yet?"

"Not yet. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it first. I would never, ever leave Dalton without telling you first."

"Well, I'm glad you told me. The other Warblers are going to miss you a lot too. You made a great addition to the Warblers. We almost made it to nationals because of you. That was the closest we have ever gotten to going to nationals."

"Oh Blaine, stop being so modest. You were amazing, better than me you know."

"I'm just being honest…" Blaine said chuckling.

Kurt smiled at him. "Well see you tomorrow Blaine Warbler."

"See you. Tell me when you go back to McKinley. I have something special planned for you, but I have to see if the Warblers are okay with it first."

"Oh, I will. And please don't make this plan grand or anything," Kurt said to him, but secretly hoping he would make it amazing and grand.

"I don't think it's too grand, but think you will love it anyway."

Kurt waved goodbye as he headed out the coffee shop. He was full of excitement, but he was sad at the same time. He couldn't wait to head back to McKinley, but was sad at the thought of not seeing the Warblers or Blaine.

But for now, he would look forward and be thankful that he had a great boyfriend, that he wouldn't be pushed around by Karofsky anymore and would be able to join New Directions in their journey to Nationals.

Things were looking up for Kurt, and he couldn't wait to see what was in store.


	10. Welcome to McKinley

**Thanks to everyone reading! I'm uploading a chapter early today because I feel like it. Sorry if the next chapter takes a while. I'm not finished it yet, and I usually finish the next chapter before I upload this one. So I apologize in advance if that happens.**

**Reviewing would be great *hint hint* How do you like it so far? Is there any situations you would like to happen? Because I'm not too sure how this middle part is going to turn out? I would like funny situations or events to happen, in order to make in the story longer and more interesting. Got ideas? I'll try my best to add them in if I like them! Also I'll try to do a flashback to what's happening back home. A reader reminded me of that and I'm very thankful they did!**

**I don't own Glee or Harry Potter. I just don't.**

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><p>Welcome to McKinley<p>

Albus took a deep breath as he took his first steps (as a person who was going to be a student that is) into William McKinley High School. Albus had never felt this scared, yet this excited in his whole life.

Earlier that morning, Brittany styled him and picked out his clothes (or her dad's old clothes). She used hair gel and spiked up the front of his hair for him, then chose a large green long sleeved shirt and dark, baggy jeans for him to wear to school. Albus never would have thought there would be schools in America that didn't wear uniforms. Almost every school in England, public or private, wizarding or Muggle had them.

Albus stood in the large hallway and looked around at all the kids talking and opening their lockers (which he previously called metal storages).With his new backpack on and all his brand new school supplies in hand, he was almost ready to join classes there. However he was a bit nervous, since he had never taken any Muggle related classes in his entire life. He tried to not think about that too much though. All he needed to do was sign into the school office and get his schedule and he was ready.

"Well, are you excited?" Brittany, who was walking right next to him, asked.

"Sure, but I honestly don't know anyone here but you and Artie. What if no one likes me? What if they don't understand a word I'm saying because of my accent?" Albus said worried.

"They will love you and especially you accent. All you have to do is stick with me the whole day. I'm pretty popular-actually probably the most popular girl in the school; here so if you are with me, you don't have to worry about being slushied."

"Slushied?" Albus said a little horrified, unfamiliar with the term. "What does that mean?"

"Don't worry about it. Just stick with me, and you'll be fine."

The two of them walked towards the office and parted ways. Brittany gave him a quick hug, then headed to her first class of the day, while Albus heading into the office.

As he opened the doors to the office's waiting area, he saw another student already waiting there. The student was young male wearing a pristine white jacket with a top hat to complete the outfit. Albus couldn't see his face however because he was facing the other direction.

Albus stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, but then decided to try to talk to the guy to break the ice a bit and to let him know that someone else was in the room.

"So, um, you're new here too?"

The boy turned around, obviously startled by him, and his large blue eyes widened and his mouth gaping.

"Yes…I mean no… well uh kind of but not really…" he stammered, not knowing what he was going to say. Albus noted that he had a slightly higher voice than most teenage boys. "Well, I'm actually transferring back here. I was at Dalton before because I had to move there because of certain reasons, which I don't really want to talk about with you, because I don't even know you yet, but I'm coming back here because it's the best for me and my family, and I also miss my dear friends quite a lot," the boy rambled on quickly. Albus hardly understood a word of what he was saying. The boy was clearly nervous and Albus could tell by the look on his face and his cheeks turning red that he knew that he sounded weird too.

"Oh," Albus replied, not knowing what to say next. Once again, there was an awkward silence. The boy was staring at him however, and analyzing him. It made Albus feel slightly uncomfortable, but he just brushed it off and looked the other direction.

The boy broke the silence though. He cleared his throat, which made "My name is Kurt, by the way. Kurt Hummel, in case you're wondering." Kurt put out his hand, as a friendly gesture and took Albus by surprise. He decided to shake it, not trying to be rude. "So I'm guessing you're new here to this school? And this country?"

"How did you…" Albus questioned, not thinking. He was surprised at the sudden confidence that Kurt possessed. Just a minute ago, he was all surprised, shocked and nervous.

"Your accent, genius. You're from England right?"

"Yes. I'm actually…"Albus started.

The office doors opened, interrupting him. An Indian man walked out with a sort of expressionless look on his face and turned to Kurt.

"Kurt Hummel, will you step inside my office. I just need to talk to you for a bit before you can join your friends and classes and whatever shenanigans they are up to today."

Kurt turned towards Albus and smiled. "We'll chat later. But what's your name? I didn't quite catch it."

"Albus. Albus Potter." Albus told him. "Err… nice talking to you for a minute."

"Pleasure," Kurt said as the Indian man gestured to him to come into his office.

Albus waited another 10 minutes, until Kurt burst out the door and out of the waiting space, with a look of excitement. He nodded to Albus quickly and then ran out the room. The Indian man looked at him and motioned towards the office.

"Are you the new student Albus?"

"Yes sir."

"I need to talk to you about some important things," he said with a frustrated expression on his face.

"Sure."

Albus entered the office with him and shut the door. The man went to his seat on the opposite of the desk and sat down. He folded his hands and turned to Albus.

"Have a seat."

Albus pulled up the chair and put his backpack down and observed the room. It was very neat, yet kind of dull and the room seemed to suck whatever enthusiasm out of him like how a Dementor would suck the soul out of wizards. Albus looked at his desk and saw a nameplate that said 'Principal Figgins'.

"Albus, it's a pleasure to have you, a foreign student, join this school," Figgins started. "However, you can't join McKinley if you don't have a transcript."

Albus looked at him blankly. Transcript? He did not remember hearing about a transcript when talking to Brittney's dad yesterday to sort all the problems out. Mr. Pierce asked what school he was at in England and Albus gave him the name of a Muggle school that was nearby his hometown. Albus asked whether they would accept him on such short notice and without a letter of permission or acceptance and Mr. Pierce (after giving him a confused stare) told him not to worry, he would cover everything.

Albus looked at Figgins. "Um…well don't you have it? I thought Mr. Pierce gave you everything?"

"No we don't have it. All he did was told me that you wanted to join McKinley for at least until summer. If you don't have a transcript to prove that you've been to school in England and that show how many credits you have, I'm afraid that you won't be able to join."

Now Albus knew he was screwed. He needed to join, or else he would be bored to death and would have no chance of making a difference here and fulfilling his destiny to get back.

"Uh… well that's not good. Can I check my backpack?" Albus asked hoping that it would buy him time to think.

"I doubt it's in there, but go ahead." Principal Figgins said raising an eyebrow.

Albus searched through his backpack and came across his wand. He stared at it for a moment. He could just pull it out and put an Imperius curse on Figgins, so that he would let him in, it was the best thing he could do.

_No, I'm not using magic_, he told himself. _This is a serious situation but it's not a matter of life or death so no. Getting arrested is not what I want to do._

Albus zipped up his backpack and stared at Figgins.

"It's not in here," Albus replied to him.

"Thought so. Well I'm afraid you can't…"

Suddenly a woman walked in briskly, holding a paper.

"Sorry to interrupt, but this transcript and some other documents came it with the name Albus Potter on it. I was wondering if you knew who this was?"

Principal Figgins gave him Albus annoyed look. Albus mouth was wide open, in total shock. How was this even possible? How did he have a transcript, he didn't even know what it was. This must have been some sort of fluke, or possibly a miracle! Whatever it was, he was thankful that this happened.

_Thank you Dumbledore, if this was you,_ he silently said in his head.

Albus looked at the woman, and then turned back to Figgins. He quickly regained composure and smirked.

"Found it," Albus said sheepishly.

Figgins took the paper from the lady, clearly annoyed, and looked at it. He read it carefully and then looked up at Albus.

"So, your school in England was St. Andrew's Institution for the Socially Inept?"

"Precisely," Albus said smiling, trying to control his excitement.

"Well, this is going to be interesting…" Figgins said unsurely.

"So, am I in?" Albus asked.

Figgins put his index finger up, as he read over all the papers. Finally after a few minutes, Principal Figgins got up and walked around his desk and turned to him.

"Well Albus, welcome to William McKinley High School," Figgins said grabbing his hand and shaking it, then handing him his schedule.

Albus stood up and gave a big smile with his schedule in hand, not even bothering to look at it. He was feeling very impatient and just wanted to get out of this boring room. "Thank you very much! Its a great pleasure to be a part of this school in America," Albus said happily. "But… err, can I leave now and go to classes?"

"Of course!" Figgins said as Albus darted towards the door and opened it.

"Have a great first day!" Figgins shouted to him as Albus hurried off.

Principal Figgins went back to his seat and sighed.

"Socially inept my ass…" Figgins muttered to himself, as he went back to work for the rest of the day.


	11. Crush

**Hey y'all. Thanks for the reviews and alerts and whatnot. I like that your enjoying the story so far! **

**For those who are wondering when you will get to see what's happening in the wizarding world, in another 3-4 chapters (I think) I'll write what's going on there and what his parents and siblings think. I almost was going to forget to write that but luckily people reminded me of that and I thank them very much :)**

** Also, I thought of some new major ideas, including another major subplot that I originally wasn't going to write. I almost had to change how the end of the story was going to turn out, but I think it's going to work. I pretty sure your curious as to what it is. HINT: It involves another wizard (Not Albus or Dumbledore). **

**Okay that hint's a bit vague but vague is good right?**

**Oh and one more thing, that isn't relevant to this story. I'm planning on starting a new story and I've already got a prologue up. It's based off the idea of the Pretty Little Liar books, but involves the characters of Glee. If you curious to find out all their little secrets and what not check in out and alert/favourite/review! I would appreciate it a lot, but I'm not planning on writing the next chapter till Christmas break (Cause of homework and putting my main focus on this story) but I already have the main plot thought out so if your interested stay tuned!**

**Here it is; it's called Up in Flames: **

**.net/s/7609794/1/Up_in_Flames**

**(oops that didn't work, oh well just put fanfiction in front of it or see my profile)**

**Okay enough author messages, I'll just let you read then.**

**And I don`t own Harry Potter or Glee**

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><p>Crush<p>

Kurt raced out the office with excitement. He was finally back at McKinley and he could finally see all his friends. However, Kurt could not get Albus out of the back of his mind.

Albus. Oh how he had made a fool out of himself while waiting to get in the office. Usually he wouldn't act like that; all shocked and nervous. But he had a good reason why. Albus was quite attractive and his looks took him by surprise.

When Albus entered the office and asked him whether he was new too, Kurt felt like he was almost going to faint. He had never heard such a voice like that talk to him in his life. Never, ever would he have imagined a British student coming to this school. When he turned around, his heart fluttered a bit and he almost lost it. He stuttered at stammered and spoke really fast, not knowing what to do.

_Look how stupid I sound_, Kurt thought, his cheeks becoming warm_. He probably thinks I do drugs or something._

When Kurt finished his spiel that hardly made any sense, Albus gave him a strange look and replied with just a simple 'oh'.

That's when Kurt gave him a thorough inspection, which was normally what he did when he met new strangers. He had dark, almost raven coloured hair that was gelled up at the front. He was wearing a very large (basically too big for him) long sleeved shirt as well as very baggy jeans with wore out old runners. Kurt however could see that even with what he was wearing, there was a rugged handsomeness about him, that made him swoon on the inside.

God, this kid has no fashion sense, he thought. Why doesn't he know what size clothes to wear?

Then he saw his eyes. A beautiful green and hazel; that almost reminded him of Blaine's eyes. Kurt held his breath. Albus looked at him, kind of nervous and startled by Kurt staring at him. Albus turned away.

_I wonder what Blaine would think of him, if he was here right now in this room. He would probably criticize his fashion sense and think that he looks like a future cologne model. Oh screw that, then I wouldn't have this sexiness all to myself._

Kurt was surprised at his possessive thoughts. He already didn't want anyone talking to him, even though he just met him. But more so, he was British, and what American person doesn't like a good English accent.

_I have to get to know him better,_ Kurt thought. _He's new. He looks vulnerable. And he most likely doesn't have any friends yet, so if I become his friend first, he will like me a lot. And I can spend more time with him and really get to know him._

Kurt started to wonder if he was gay. It was a possibility. Maybe he was a runaway from England, tormented by kids who bullied him because of his sexuality and needed to escape to a more open place like America and was looking for a new home where people would support him and love him and where he could find true love.

Kurt shook those thoughts out of his mind_. Silly me, making everything over dramatic and like a soap opera. He's probably straight. But I really should try talking to him again. I completely sounded like an idiot the first time. Just keep calm and act normal. And introduce yourself like a regular human being._

So Kurt stuck out his hand and introduced himself. Albus was obviously taken aback by his change of attitude but never less shook it. When Albus touched Kurt's hand, Kurt felt a tingling sensation down his spine and his heartbeat sped up.

Kurt tried to start a conversation with him, but it ended up going nowhere because Principal Figgins walked out of his office and told him to come in.

_Damn,_ Kurt thought. _I was just getting somewhere. I didn't even get to ask his name yet._

Kurt asked what his name was, and he said Albus. Kurt nodded, as he headed into the office, trying to focus on how he was going to approach his friends and tell them he was back at McKinley, instead of thinking about Albus. He would probably see Albus around sometime or later, so he shouldn't worry about not managing to connect with him.

After Figgins gave him his schedule and talked to him for a bit in a robotic manner, Kurt excitedly raced out of the office, into the waiting area. He saw Albus still standing there, looking a bit inpatient.

Kurt quickly nodded at him, his heart speeding up as he looked at him again, and then proceeded out of the office to find his new locker.

As he walked to his locker in the empty hallway, Kurt mind was full of so many things. He missed Blaine, he missed his friends and he could stop thinking about Albus on top of it. Everyone was in class right now but he didn't want to go there yet. He checked the time on his phone to see it was almost 10 am. Kurt sighed. He would just wait around until lunch to find his friends. He looked at his phone again and saw that he got a new message from Blaine. He immediately opened it and read it.

_Kurt, I miss you so much already. xox_

Kurt took a deep breath, sighing again. He replied to the message.

_Miss you too :'(_

The reply back was almost instant.

_Hey, listen, at lunch meet me at the east stairs. I've got a surprise and I think you'll like it Bring your friends too_

Kurt wondered what it was. He texted back.

_Okay Mr. Warbler. Make it a good surprise._

Blaine replied, _Oh I will ;)_

Kurt put away his phone, curious about this surprise that Blaine mentioned twice already, as he approached his brand new locker and spent 5 minutes putting all his stuff into it. As a finishing touch he opened a compartment of his leather bag and pulled out a school picture of Blaine and put it at the top of his locker. He looked at it and sighed. Being away from Blaine was hard, but it was bearable. And having his picture in his locker would remind Kurt of him anyway.

Kurt suddenly heard footsteps down the hallway. He turned away from his locker and saw Albus walking down the hall with all his stuff. Kurt took a sharp intake of breath and slammed his locker shut. He needed to try to talk to Albus again and make a decent impression for him.

Kurt strutted up to Albus who's new locker was about 10 down from his and Kurt gave him a warm slap on the back. Albus jumped up shocked and turned to Kurt.

"Greetings new kid, we meet again. How are you doing?" Kurt said giving him a big cheerful smile, feeling very confident.

"But we just met like 10 minutes…" Albus started.

"I know, I know, but a lot can happen in 10 minutes. For example one moment I was dancing to Single Ladies, 10 minutes later I scored the game winning goal or basket or whatever they call it in football," Kurt said rolling his eyes.

Albus gave him a strange look as he put his stuff in his locker. "Why were you dancing while playing football?"

"It's kind of a long story that happened a while ago. It would take too long for me to tell it at this moment, and I don't want to distract you from setting up your locker," Kurt said casually. Albus just nodded and continued to put stuff in his locker. Kurt was getting a little frustrated at his lack of speech and he wasn't sure how he was going to talk to him. What kind of new kid would reject the friendly welcome of a fellow student? Kurt thought to himself for a second. The gears in Kurt's brain were starting to warm up and suddenly it hit him. A brilliant idea that would help him get to know Albus better, and on top of that, would make everyone in the Glee club worship him.

"So, Albus, what subjects are you taking? Do you have any spares at all?" Kurt asked, keeping cool.

"Um, right now I think I'm taking chemistry, Mathematics, history and English," he said looking at the schedule he put in his locker. "And I have a spare right after lunchtime."

Kurt clapped his hands together in relief. That was the same time Glee club was on. Things were falling perfectly into plan.

"Well I was wondering if you were interested in joining Glee club?" Kurt asked hopefully. "It's at that same time your spare is at and it's a full credit! You see, I'm trying to recruit members for Nationals, which is coming up in a few months and I think you would be perfect for it."

"Maybe. It's just I don't really know what it is. Other than the fact I woke up in the storage room there. You see Brittany keeps telling me…"

"Well it's a singing clubs and…" Kurt started completely cutting Albus off. But then the words that Albus said just sunk into his mind, and suddenly Kurt was the confused and surprised one.

"Wait, WHAT? You were sleeping in the Glee room? " Kurt said taken aback and totally shocked. "How-how in the great heavens did you end up in there? How did you get in? And-and how in the world do you know Brittany already?" Kurt spluttered.

Albus shut his locker door and turned to face Kurt. "Well, it's kind of a long story," he said mimicking what Kurt said a few minutes ago. "I would like to tell you it, but it would take too long and shouldn't you be heading off you classes?" Albus gave him a smug smile, and Kurt's heart sped up again, amazing at how attractive he looked right then.

"I-I I think that you should, well possibly, I don't even…" Kurt stammered, unsure of what to say next. _Oh God, look at me again, acting like the cat got my tongue or if Charlie Sheen got high off cocaine before an interview._

"Well, Kurt, I'll think about it. I don't think I can sing though. I never have, so I would be quite useless to this little Glee club of yours."

"You never know until you try," Kurt said sort of squeakily, finally finding something to say.

"Like I said, I'll think about it. I've got to head to class now. Would you mind telling me where room 156 is? I have chemistry there," Albus asked.

"It's just down the hall, first door on the right," Kurt replied, trying to be calm as possible. "Well, uh, farewell Albus, and don't forget about Glee club," Kurt said loudly as Albus sprinted off to class.

Kurt stared at him as he ran down the hall. He had never been so flustered while talking to a person ever before. Kurt exhaled loudly, as he stood in the empty hall all by himself. He checked the time again and saw that the next class would be happening in a couple minutes. He would have to get out of the way and wait somewhere, until lunch.

_I'll just head to the library I suppose,_ Kurt thought to himself as he headed towards that direction. He kept thinking about Albus again, and finally came to the conclusion that he liked Albus. A lot.

_Okay, so he is dreamy, mysterious and has a British accent. Well who doesn't love a British accent?_ _Or a mysterious English man? _However felt this was different. He felt like it was possible that he had some sort of connection with Albus. Not the same connection he had with Blaine, but the same feelings for Blaine the first time he met him.

_Okay Kurt just admit it already. You have a crush on Albus. Albus Potter, the new British kid who is somewhat strange, but in a hot way, _Kurt told himself. _Oh what would Blaine think about this?_

Well, did he need to tell Blaine? I mean, it's just a crush, and he knew he wouldn't be the only one who would have a crush on him. It was harmless, and everyone has those crushes right? As long as it didn't turn into something more, he was fine. He just wanted to become friends with him, and get to know him better. It was a natural instinct and Albus need friends anyway.

Kurt reached the school library. He stayed in there for a bit, grabbing a random book (that was apparently on Attila the Hun) to pretend he was reading. However he just texted Blaine and surfed the internet instead.

The bell rang, and Kurt picked up his stuff and headed to the east stairs, where Blaine was supposed to be. He didn't see him however, but as he looked down the humongous stair cases, he saw the members of New Directions; Rachel, Finn, Mercedes and the rest of them, sitting in the center talking and laughing while eating their lunches. Kurt's heart raced as he put his top hat, which he had been holding in his hands and walked to the top of the stairs. As he reached there, he already saw Rachel pointing excitedly at him and telling the others. Kurt smiled, he took a deep breath as he raised he hands triumphantly and yelled at the top of his lungs, what he wanted to say for the longest time.

"Kurt Hummel is back at McKinley!"


	12. Rachel

**Hey Gleeks and Potterheads! Sorry for a late post. I was busy a lot last week and didn't have time to write the last 2 weeks. Here is the next chapter! Hope you like it. I'll try to post a little more the next 2 weeks of holidays.**

**Also Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Kwanzaa! Holidays! etc! **

**Finally please review and alert and whatever if you want to! It would be a nice post-Christmas gift!**

**And I don't own Glee or Harry Potter and is it really necessary to write this every chapter? or do I only write it once? I shall never know?**

Rachel

Albus headed off to his first Muggle class ever, with a lot of thoughts in mind. Like the fact that Kurt was being so friendly and welcoming, especially since they just met. Almost on the brink of too friendly. When he first went to Hogwarts when he was 11, everyone in his year was very scared and shy, but then again, everyone was new and they didn't know what to expect. But wasn't Kurt new too? Then why was he acting Albus thought to himself for a bit and he remembered Kurt quickly mentioning something about transferring back to McKinley. So that meant Kurt already knew many people here, so he wasn't shy or worried at all. Still, Albus was puzzled by Kurt outgoing attitude. If he was in Kurt's position, he would never bother talking to a strange new kid.

The other major thought in his mind was this Glee club Kurt mentioned. Flashbacks from when he woke up in the Glee classroom, confused and dazed, popped up into his mind. He tried to remember who was there, but he could only pictures some faces, no names in particular. However he wasn't sure whether he wanted to join, he had never sung in his life, and wasn't even sure he could sing. His sister Lily loved to sing songs all the time and even wrote original pieces, but she never had much of an opportunity to sing at Hogwarts. Hogwarts just wasn't a place for the musically gifted, it was just meant for wizards and witches to practice spells, not to express their creative musical talents.

Albus approached the classroom and turned the doorknob nervously. He took a deep breath, and entered the room, trying to put all thoughts behind him. He saw the professor standing in front of the classroom, mostly full of bored and distracted kids, talking in a monotone voice.

"Now, in order to balance this chemical equation, what must you put in front of the compounds so they can be balanced on both sides?" the professor blabbed on.

There was an awkward silence, and Albus found this as a perfect opportunity to let the professor know he was new.

"Um, excuse me sir? My name is Albus Potter, and I'm new here," Albus said as confidently as possible. "Where should I sit?"

The entire class immediately woke up and turned to face him. Some were staring at him with their mouths wide open, and others were whispering to their friends, presumably about him. Albus suddenly felt very small and could feel his face becoming warm.

The professor looked at him and rolled his eyes. "Yes I know. I was expecting you. And why don't you go sit in the front over there next to Rachel."

"Yes sir," Albus said meekly.

"No need to call me sir. It's Mr. Brown," Mr. Brown said straightforwardly. "Now go on and sit and start taking notes."

Albus quickly walked to the desk that he pointed out. He tried not to make any eye contact with any of the students. However once he sat down, he looked at the girl who sat next to him, just out of curiosity, and gasped. It was the short brunette girl who found him in the storage room in the Glee classroom. There was only one small difference about her. She had a bandage around her nose, which looked quite swollen and red. She was staring at him with her mouth open and a confused expression on her face.

"Aren't you the guy who I found sleeping like a homeless person in Glee club?" she questioned him in an angry whisper.

"Yes, I…"

"Then what are you doing here at school?"

"I'm Brittany's pen pal, don't you remem…"

"But if you're her pen pal, then shouldn't you be back home in England or wherever? You're just a visitor, not a student here," she said cutting him off again.

"Well, there was a change of plans. I'm staying here at least till the end of the year," Albus said firmly.

"So you're living at Brittany's?"

"Yes. Her family is fine with it."

"So you are an exchange student then, am I right?"

"No, I'm her pen pal," Albus said, not totally sure what an exchange student was.

"Who is an exchange student," she stated as a matter of fact.

"Well, um, shouldn't you be listening to the professor?" Albus said, immediately changing the topic.

"Don't change the topic, just give an answer. And I know I should be lis…"

"Ms. Berry, do I need to send you to the office? You can chat all you want there," Mr. Brown interrupted, while Rachel jumped out of her seat in surprise.

"No, sorry. I'll keep my mouth shut. Continue your lesson," she said turning red. Mr. Brown turned to face the whiteboard and Rachel gave a glare at Albus.

"We'll discuss this once class ends," Rachel whispered to him. "Don't you run away."

Albus sat awkwardly in his chair, feeling a bit threated by this Rachel girl. He didn't really want to talk to her after class so he planned to exit out of class as fast as her could.

For the rest of class, Albus tried to listen to the teacher and take notes, but didn't understand at all what he was talking about. He didn't know what an ionic or covalent compound was or how to balance a chemical reaction equation, but he tried to not let himself get worried. He would ask someone about this stuff, maybe Brittany, if she understood it at all that is. Suddenly Albus heard this loud ring and jumped out of his seat, shocked. He guessed it was a signal that class was over, because everyone else was rushing out of the class. Albus grabbed all his stuff and shoved it into his backpack and hurried off, hoping to avoid Rachel, but as soon as he exited the classroom, she was standing outside the door waiting for him. She quickly grabbed his arm and turned him to face her.

"Look, all I wanted to know was whether you're an exchange student. Are you embarrassed by it or something? It's not like anyone can't figure it out. Your accent just screams British exchanged student," Rachel told him, while Albus sighed sadly.

"Sure I guess I am, but I'm also Brittany's pen pal from England. You can be both right?"

"Yes, I guess you can. I just wanted you to be honest."

"And I am being honest. Look can I go have lunch now? I'm quite hungry and…"

"Wait, before you go have lunch I should properly introduce myself. I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot and I don't want you to hate me or anything. Like I said I just wanted to know why you're here," Rachel said apologetically.

"I'm not mad. It's okay," Albus said to her.

"Well then," she said dramatically pausing. "My name is Rachel Berry and I am the star of McKinley high school's Glee club, a straight A student and I aspire to become a Broadway star and perform in not, one, not two, but at least 10 shows during my lifetime. I also sadly broke my nose recently, through someone's careless dancing, but I try not to let it get in the way of my performances," Rachel said giving the biggest smile and sticking out her hand. Albus gave it a shake, thinking about how much Rachel reminded him of Kurt. It was like she was the female version of him or something.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Albus Potter and I'm from England as you know already. Oh, and I hope your nose gets better too," Albus said not to sure what to say next after her lengthy introduction.

"Nice to meet you too, and don't worry I plan to get it fixed…I mean it will heal soon," Rachel said, suddenly in deep thought. "Albus did you think my introduction was too rehearsed? I wanted it to sound as natural as possible, but I feel like it came off fake."

"No, it was fine. I liked it," he replied, even though he did think it was a bit conceited.

"If you say so. Hey Albus, since you're new, would you like to have lunch with me and my friends? I don't want you to eat by yourself since you don't know anyone. I'll introduce them to you and I think you'll like them a lot," Rachel asked him hopefully.

"Actually I do know Brittany already and I promised that I would stick with her today," Albus said even though he kind of knew Artie the wheelchair kid and Kurt but he wasn't sure whether he should mention them or not.

"Oh," Rachel said a little down. "Well you can't just stick with one person at this school forever. You have to be social and open. And Brittany's got Santana with her so it's not like she'll be lonely."

Albus thought to himself. She was right, he couldn't stick with Brittany as his only semi-friend. He had to get to know people. And the more people he knew, the better chance of him fulfilling whatever destiny he had to fulfill here.

"And also Brittany does have lunch with my friends sometimes, so you might see her…"

"Okay, I'll have lunch with you and your friends," Albus said accepting her offer.

"Great! I think they will love you," Rachel said gushing a little. "I mean your accent is just…"

"I know, I know, American's are obsessed with British accents so they will all swarm me."

The two of the walked together down the halls and Rachel bombarded him with some more questions.

"So what's it like in England. Did you go to a private school and wear a uniform? I heard all almost all schools in UK wear them. Is that true?"

"Yes I wore a uniform. It was black robe and it had my house symbol on the…" Albus started but hushed up, feeling like he was giving too much away.

"Oh, you have houses? I didn't know they did that in England. I mean, that means you go to a private school right?"

"I guess it's what you call a private school," he said waiting for Rachel to speak again.

"That's pretty awesome. Not the uniform part though, I would hate to wear uniforms. You wouldn't be able to express you creative side and your personality couldn't shine through. My personality is what makes me special and unique you know?"

"Well I think you can have a lot of personality with uniforms. Take my brother for instance, he is kind of a rebel and quite loud and is pretty crazy," Albus said, trying to keep his emotions in. He kind of wished he didn't bring up his brother; that wasn't such a good idea.

"Your brother is a rebel?"

"Kind of, well compared to my sister and I."

"Does he get in trouble a lot?"

"Sometimes. Not as much as you think."

"I would hate getting in trouble. I never have gotten suspended or put in detention before. I like to have a clean record, so that I have a better chance getting into the university of my choice."

"That's cool. At my old school I had a clean record too. I really don't like getting in trouble, even though I should have many times."

"Why?"

"I didn't hand in my homework all the time. The professor let it slide or extended the due date usually, but something like that should have got me in detention."

"Wait, professor?"

"Yah, that what's we call teachers there, well at my school we do."

"Wow. England sounds quite different from here."

"It's not actually that different. It's pretty much the same. We just call things different names there."

"I would love to go to England," Rachel said dreamily. "I would love to perform there at one of the classical musicals and find a British guy who is equally as talented as me so we can get married and buy a castle in the country side. It's my second destination of choice, right behind New York City."

"Well, don't give up on your dreams then," Albus said thinking of Dumbledore. "If you feel like it's your destiny to be there, then do whatever it takes to accomplish it."

The two of them pushed open some doors headed outside to something like a court yard, except with a large concrete stair case in the middle of it. Rachel turned to him and smiled.

"You're quite the wise one Albus. And don't worry, I know it's my destiny to be a star, and I'm not going to give up anytime soon."

Albus and Rachel headed to a table that was at the front of the staircase and Albus saw a few vaguely familiar faces. He saw the tall guy who he remembered told Brittany that wizards didn't exist, as well as a black girl, a guy who looked almost bald, except for a patch of hair down the middle of his head, and a Latino girl, who he guessed was Brittany's best friend, since they were sitting next to each other. There was also a blond girl, and blond boy, an Asian girl and boy, and a larger girl too. He also recognized Artie too.

"Well look who we have here," Artie said as Rachel and Albus approached. "Amish and Clown nose."

"Artie, how many times did I tell you not to call me that." Rachel said rolling her eyes as she motioned for Albus to sit down with her.

"Well he does have a point," the Latino girl cut in. "I prefer toucan beak or 'Pinocchio' though."

"Nice one Satan. Oops. I mean Santana," Rachel countered.

"Ha ha ha, your pathetic jokes always make my day better," Santana replied unshaken. "So who's the new kid you got here? Are you that desperate to have a boyfriend before prom?"

"Santana," Brittany said as she turned to the girl. "That's Albus, the wizard I was telling you about."

"Brittany, how many times do I have to tell you there is no such things as wizards," the tall boy cut in. "I thought he was your pen pal anyway."

"Finn, how many times do I have to tell you that you're in denial?"

"But there is no such thing…"

"Finn," Santana said calmly, but in a threating tone. "Shut your blubbery whale lips and let Brittany say and believe what she thinks."

"Thanks again Santana, you're the best," Brittany smiled at her.

"You're welcome Britts. So what is the British closet kid doing here anyway?" Santana said facing him.

Albus bit his lip, not sure what to say. How was someone like this presumably Brittany's best friend? She was scaring the crap out of him. Just as Albus thought of something good to say, he was interrupted by a squeal coming from Rachel.

"Guys look," she said pointing up the staircase excitedly.

Everyone turned, including Albus and there on top of the stairs was Kurt with his hands up in the air joyfully and his top hat on.

"Kurt Hummel is back at McKinley!" he yelled from the top as everyone gasped and excitedly got up from the table to approach Kurt. However Albus stood there shocked with his mouth open, and wondered how much of a coincidence it was to being sitting with all of his apparent friends.

_Could this day get any weirder?_ Albus thought to himself, as everyone started to greet Kurt and hug him, welcoming him back to McKinley.


	13. The Surprise

**Sorry if this chapter is kind of badly written. I wrote it most of it after 2 weeks of not writing anything at all so my brain was screwed and kind of uncreative when I wrote this.**

**Also for the chapter I'm currently writing, I need a song that Albus should sing for his glee audition. Like ASAP. I have very very few ideas and I really want to start writing it properly soon. Any suggestions? I'm a little desperate I know, but it would be helpful! **

**Also a little reminder and notice, this takes place in the episode Born this Way and the story will be almost accurate to what happens on the show up too New York. Minus Sue's sister's death/funeral, and Sam being poor. I have my own little story line instead for around that time. And there will be a prom for sure! (How could I possibly not have a prom)**

**I don't own the song "Somewhere Only We Know" and Glee and Harry Potter. At all. Ever.**

The Surprise

Kurt walked down the stairs as fast as he could to greet his friends. His heart swelled with excitement as they got up out of their seats and rushed towards him.

"Hey everyone! Did you miss me?" Kurt said happily as they came towards him.

Rachel, who looked the most excited, sprinted at him and gave him a big hug, knocking the air out of him.

"YES," Rachel said who looked like she was going to cry a waterfall of happiness any second. "How come you didn't tell me about it? Then I would have thrown a party complete with all your favourite things."

"Rachel don't cry right now. Save the drama for the stage. It's not like I died or anything," Kurt said trying to contain his laughter. Oh, how he had missed all of them dearly.

"Well, I'm just so happy your back!" Rachel gushed.

"I missed you and your insanity too," Kurt said letting go of Rachel.

"Hold up," Santana interrupted. "You live with Finn right? How come Finn managed to keep this a secret?"

"Kurt told me not to tell any of you guys. Well almost threatened me. He was planning to show my browsing history to Burt and my mom. It's what he does when he wants things to go his way," Finn said awkwardly shoving his hands into his pockets.

"And it works every single time," Kurt retorted, smirking at Finn.

"Well I still can't believe your back!" Rachel repeated again who looked like she was going to burst with excitement. "But is Blaine okay with this? I mean, isn't he going to miss you a lot?"

"Yes he'll miss me, but he just wants me to be happy. And if going back to McKinley makes me happy, then he's fine with it," Kurt said reminiscing a little.

"Those are somewhat wise words aren't they," a familiar voice said from behind. Kurt turned around and gasped as he saw Blaine, walking down the stairs looking as dapper as ever in his Warbler blazer.

"Blaine!" Kurt shouted happily. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at Dalton?"

"Kurt, I told you I was coming. This shouldn't be a surprise," Blaine said chuckling as he waved to the Kurt's other friends, who actually looked surprise too.

"Oh, right," Kurt muttered to himself, remembering the text message that he sent and the reason why he came to this area in the first place, and feeling like a complete idiot.

"I know, I know I just needed something polite to say," Kurt said to Blaine smiling at him pretending like he didn't forget.

"Says the one who usually is rude," Blaine said giving quick pat on the back to Kurt.

The two of them stared at each other for a bit. Kurt could feel the sadness overflowing from him and by just glancing at each other, they could say so much without speaking one word at all. Kurt bit his lip and didn't know what to say next. He didn't want him to leave yet. He kept reminding himself that it wasn't like he was never going to see him again, but it might as well have been the situation.

"So I guess this is your 'goodbye for now' visit," Kurt said quietly, keeping his emotions in.

"Yes, but this would be a pretty lame goodbye wouldn't it?" Blaine told him.

"Well…" Kurt started, but Blaine gently grabbed his hand and he froze unsure of what he was going to do.

"Um this isn't a really a good place or time to…"

"I know Kurt I was just getting your attention," Blaine said as Kurt let go of his hand calmly. "Wait a second I've got to do something. I'll come back though."

Blaine quickly went up the stairs as Kurt looked onward wondering what he was going to do.

"So what was that about?" Rachel asked Kurt as the others also gave him curious expressions.

"Oh, well he came to say goodbye and now he's running off to who knows where to do something," Kurt sighed.

"He's probably running away to buy a new parting outfit for you since what you are wearing is hideous," Santana interjected as she rolled her eyes. "Seriously, the last person to wear a top hat was probably Abraham Lincoln and I think he died like 1000 years ago."

"Santana," Kurt said under his breath, tempted to tell her that Lincoln died little over 100 years ago, but he held his tongue. Kurt searched for Blaine trying to see whether he was back but he didn't see anything.

"Maybe he went to the washroom," Finn told Kurt. "I mean that's what I would do before I would say goodbye to my girlfriend. I wouldn't want to pee in my pants or anything."

Kurt exhaled loudly in frustration. Oh how embarrassing it would be if Albus was here watching this gong show that his friends put on. He wondered where Albus was right now; probably having lunch by himself in some lonely corner or searching for Brittany, who was right here with here standing with the rest of them.

"Kurt cheer up, it's not like you are never going to see him again," Mercedes said to him.

"I know. I just hope he didn't leave…" Kurt started.

"KURT," a voice yelled and Kurt turned around and saw Blaine again standing at the top of the stairs, but this time with all of the Warblers.

Kurt gave a huge smile and this time was truly surprised at the sight of all the Warblers. All of his friends looked equally surprised once again.

"You guys didn't have to come," Kurt yelled to all of them, but was pleased that they all came.

"Well we wanted to say bye to and thank you for making a great addition to the Warblers," a Warbler named Nick said. "And Blaine also wanted us to come because he had something prepared for you."

Kurt gasped and realized that the only reason they would all come was if they were going to sing a song for him. He felt honoured and was speechless as he watched Blaine and the Warblers slowly take a few steps down the stairs.

"Kurt this song is from us to you," Blaine said. "And especially from me."

Kurt watched, wondering what song he was going to sing and as soon as he sang the first note, Kurt knew exactly what it was.

_I walked across an empty land_

_I knew the pathway like the back of my hand_

_I felt the earth beneath my feet_

_Sat by the river and it made me complete_

_Oh simple thing where have you gone_

_I'm getting old and I need something to rely on_

_So tell me when you're gonna let me in_

_I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin_

_I came across a fallen tree_

_I felt the branches of it looking at me_

_Is this the place we used to love?_

_Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?_

_Oh simple thing where have you gone_

_I'm getting old and I need something to rely on_

_So tell me when you're gonna let me in_

_I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin_

_And if you have a minute why don't we go_

_Talk about it somewhere only we know?_

_This could be the end of everything_

_So why don't we go_

_Somewhere only we know?_

_Oh simple thing where have you gone_

_I'm getting old and I need something to rely on_

_So tell me when you're gonna let me in_

_I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin_

_So if you have a minute why don't we go_

_Talk about it somewhere only we know?_

_This could be the end of everything_

_So why don't we go_

_So why don't we go_

_This could be the end of everything_

_So why don't we go_

_Somewhere only we know?_

Kurt held his breath the entire time and by the end of the song, he was almost crying. They had done such a beautiful job that for the next minute or so, no one could say a word. A short round of applause came from his friends and a few bystanders but for Kurt the applause didn't really matter. It was the thought put into it that counted and the fact that no one else in the world would do this for him.

The Warblers all walked pass Kurt and gave him a quick goodbye hug while saying things like "Nice getting to know you," and "We'll miss you," before heading up the stairs and starting to go back to Dalton. Kurt's eyes began to water and a tear drop slid down his cheek. Finally Blaine approached him and opened up his arms for a hug and Kurt almost collapsed into them as Blaine gave him a big and warm hug.

_Oh wow I must look like a hopeless mess right now_, Kurt thought to himself. But it didn't matter what anyone else thought. Only Blaine's thoughts mattered to him.

As Kurt took a few deep breaths trying to calm himself down, Blaine whispered into his ear so softly that no one else could hear it.

"I love you Kurt. Don't ever forget that."

"I know. And why would I forget?" Kurt whispered back as Blaine let go of him and gave him a sad smile, and Kurt could see his eyes fill with tears too. He was tempted to kiss him and make him happy and joyful, but he knew that wouldn't be the best thing to do out in public.

"I guess this is goodbye for now," Kurt told Blaine. "I'll see you later, if I ever manage to calm myself down."

"Stop moping around, it's not like I died for anything," Blaine said to him, and Kurt chuckled in spite of himself, since it was just minutes ago he had said the exact same words.

"See you later Kurt," Blaine said as he started to walk off up the stairs again.

"See you," Kurt said quietly as he watched him take off.

Albus sat at the lunch table, amazed at many things that had just happened in the last 15 minutes or so. As all of the people who were sitting at the table got up to welcome Kurt back, Albus sat by himself pondering the events.

_So Rachel, Artie, Brittany and all of these people were his friends. And I just happen to be sitting with them. Wow. Just wow._

The other thing that surprised him a little was the fact that Kurt hadn't noticed him yet. But he found it perfectly acceptable that he was more interested in the friends that he had for a long time then the guy he had just met recently.

So as Albus sat there awkwardly alone, while Kurt chatted with his friends, Albus also got to watch the performance that was put on by a bunch of guys in uniforms, and sung by this main boy who Albus guessed was Kurt's really close friend from his old school.

As Albus listened to the song Kurt's friend sang, Albus was caught off guard by his singing. Albus, who was not really into music suddenly was immensely intrigued by the singing.

_Wow, they are really good. It's actually kind of beautiful,_ Albus thought to himself. He never thought he would being enjoying music before, but he realized that it was quite amazing and a great way to express your feelings. He could feel the emotion and honesty pouring out of the lead singer's voice.

Then it hit him. This new feeling. A feeling of inspiration and the need to accomplish something. He had this sudden feeling that this would help him complete his destiny. But how? How was listening to someone singing a song going to get him back home? Albus closed his eyes and had an instant flashback.

_Glee club, you sing there right?_ Albus thought_. I woke up there, Kurt mentioned it, Rachel mentioned it, Brittany mentioned it. And I have a strong feeling these guys who are singing are part of one too._

That was it. He had to join Glee club. It was right in front of his face the whole time and he kept putting aside and ignoring the obvious signs that were telling him to join. It was his destiny and even though it didn't make any sense, since he had never sang in his entire life, that was what he needed to do.

As the uniformed guys finished off the song, some people applauded and Albus joined in. Albus watched as all the guys said goodbye to Kurt and then watched as Kurt collapsed into the lead singers arms, crying a bit and not letting go.

_They must be really close_, Albus thought as he could feel a deep sense of connection between the two of them.

As Kurt and the lead singer said their goodbyes and the lead singer parted off, Albus though he should complement the boy and his friends and tell them that he was inspired. Albus quickly got up from the bench and followed the lead singer as he walked up the stairs, by himself.

Albus managed to catch up to the boy as he just got past the top of the staircase. His friends weren't there at all, so Albus could only tell him.

"Excuse me sir," Albus said as he tapped the boy on the shoulder. He turned around and gave him a quizzical look.

"Erm, how may I help you?" the boy asked, a little confused.

"Oh, I just wanted to say that your singing was amazing and I thought you did a fantastic job, along with your friends. You, um, kind of inspired me," Albus said to him, trying to look as positive as possible.

"Thanks! Me and my friends, the Warblers, prepared it all of that last night. It was quite hard to do, but I'm glad it turned out well."

"Warblers?" Albus asked him, not sure what he meant.

"My show choir group, or Glee club. Listen if you're inspired by singing or music you should join a choir or Glee club here at your school."

"But I have never sung before. And I'm new here too so I'm not sure whether they would accept me at anything here. I'm from England so everything here is quite new to me."

"Don't worry they will. Many of my friends here are part of it and most of them are very nice so you'll be fine. And everyone like a good British accent so you don't have to worry," Blaine said chuckling.

"I've been told many times," Albus said rolling his eyes.

"Hey listen, if you think singing might be your passion or if you like music, I think you'll find it quite enjoyable and fun. I absolutely love it and I've never regretted being a part of it. It's what I look forward to everyday and it's relatively easy."

Albus thought for a bit. Was he really going to join the Glee club? Was he willing to make it part of his new life here?

"I think I'll join it. Thanks a lot…erm…"Albus started, but realized he didn't know his name yet.

"Blaine. It's nice that you were inspired by our performance for Kurt. The kid in the top hat. Kurt used to go to my school Dalton, but he decided to move back because he missed his really close friends."

"Aren't you his close friend too?"

"Well…um…I…yes but he has more friends here at McKinley and likes it here better. But I know he'll miss me a lot too," Blaine said as Albus could see a flash of sadness come from him.

"Oh. I see. Thanks. Thanks a lot actually," Albus said smiling at Blaine.

"Nice meeting you! Hope you enjoy Glee club!" Blaine said as he waved to Albus and headed off to where the other Warblers were waiting for him. Albus stood there alone for a second, thinking about what had just happened. He was really going to do it. He was going to try to sing for the first time in his life.


	14. Dilemma

**Hi again! Big Thanks to all those who gave song suggestions (11ebq11. Sky Sailor, Infinity Edge) I took your suggestions into account and picked one of them. But the audition is next chapter so you'll have to wait a bit. **

Dilemma

As soon as Blaine was gone over the staircase, Kurt turned back to his friends, who were all heading back to the table where most of them were previously eating.

"That was so, so sweet of him Kurt," Rachel said giving Kurt a cheer me up hug then grabbing his hands and facing him. "I wish I had a boyfriend like that who would romantically sing to me in front of most of the school," she said dramatically sighing. Kurt swore that she gave an evil glare at Finn, who was had his arm around Quinn the whole time, before she turned back to him. "You are very lucky to have him. Someone who can keep up with you talent and arrange such a show and…"

"Okay that's enough Rachel," Kurt said shutting her up from blabbering on and on. "I know it was amazing, okay more than amazing actually, but you don't have to give a subtle complain about not having a boyfriend while telling me this."

Rachel gave Kurt an annoyed looked and immediately changed the subject. "Anyway I was planning to introduce you to this new kid I met in class today. He's a transfer student from England and is rather dreamy but kind of awkward at the same time."

"And he is staying with me," Brittany piped in from behind.

"And he also happens to be the same boy who was sleeping in the storage room during Glee club, because… well I don't know why but Brittany says they were playing hide and seek. However I don't believe that," Rachel said as she glared at Brittany. Brittany just shrugged and picked up a sandwich she was eating.

Kurt held his breath for a second. Wait, did she say British? Were they talking about Albus? Of course they were; there were no other students at the school who were new, let alone British.

"Oh, well I guess I won't be the only somewhat new kid in the school then," Kurt stated giving a little chuckle at the end of the statement. "So where is Al… this new kid anyway?"

"Well he's sitting at the ta…" Rachel started, but turned to where everyone was sitting and realized that Albus had vanished.

"Where…I….but he was…" Rachel spluttered, taken aback and surprised a little. "Kurt he was here like 2 seconds ago, I swear but he must have disappeared when Blaine was singing or something…"

"Told you he was a wizard," Brittany cut in while she had a mouthful of sandwich.

"Well that's just too darn bad," Kurt spoke quickly as he decided to finally sit down with the rest of them at the crowded table. He secretly hoped that Albus wouldn't come back from wherever he was, so that he wouldn't have to share his company among the rest of his friends. He also was still in awe at the song Blaine sang for him, and the last thing he needed was the British kid to come in and stir his emotions up.

"Well I hope I didn't scare him off or something," Rachel worried. "I mean when I met him in class I scared him a bit, then I tried to reconcile and we had a nice conversation…"

"It was probably that nasty fat ass broken nose of yours then," Kurt said harshly, immediately regretting what had come out of his mouth.

Rachel looked shocked for a second, as did everyone else who was sitting there, surprised that Kurt would say that, but quietened up and pulled a paper lunch bag out of her school bag and silently opened it.

"Kurt Hummel. Wow. I'm impressed," Santana said from across the table. "I thought I couldn't make anyone at this table into a bitch like me but I think that comeback deserves a round of my applause. Yay!" Santana said to Kurt clapping a bit.

Kurt reddened up as turned to Rachel and quickly said sorry. She gave a little nod and continued to eat.

"Speaking of the new kid, look who's coming down the stairs," Finn announced pointing up the stairs. To Kurt's dismay it was Albus, who did decide to come back and eat with the rest of them. _Great now I have to compete for him with the rest of my crazy friends,_ he thought.

"Um, hi everyone," Albus said as he approached where they were sitting. Albus quickly noticed that Kurt was sitting with them, but didn't look too surprised at all. He gave a casually nod to Kurt. "Hey Kurt. So these are your friends too?"

Rachel finally looked up and looked at Kurt confused. "You already know him? But I thought only Brittany knew him?"

"I actually know him too," Artie acknowledged. "I taught him how to use a computer a few days ago because he doesn't know how to use them for some reason and Brittany wanted me to teach him. And that's why I call the kid Amish."

Rachel looked at him wide eyed, obviously surprised at all these revelations, then turned back to Kurt. "So how do…"

"We met each other in the office this morning. You know, what you do when you're new or returning to the school. Yep, and that's how I know dear Albus here," Kurt said nonchalantly.

"Well you also talked to me after at the um… lockers," Albus said.

"That too, but that was very brief and it's the first encounter that matters," Kurt said brushing it off, hoping no one would ask any further.

"Okay, but I don't think it was brief…"Albus started to talk.

"First encounter that matters," Kurt said firmly, cutting Albus off.

"So where did you go Albus?" Rachel asked him. "I was wondering if you didn't want to eat with us or was scared of us."

"Oh, I just went to talk to the kid who was singing moments ago…" Albus said.

Wait, what? He went to go talk to Blaine? Kurt fumed a little on the inside and started to get caught up in his thoughts, wondering how Albus was totally okay approaching this random kid who he doesn't know while he seemed a little apprehensive around him whenever Kurt tried to talk to him. Kurt started to think a bit too far. Maybe he was gay and found Blaine's serenade for him charming and was trying to make an advance towards him. It was possibility, but the real reason that Kurt was thinking that far was because he was afraid of him get really close with anyone but himself. He wanted to be Albus first friend here, and spend as much time with him as possible, and it was getting more unlikely every second. He was almost on the brink of being possessive of Albus, though he just met him today.

As Kurt thought of all this, he started to feel like he was betraying Blaine, even though nothing had happened yet. Blaine had just arranged the most beautiful performance for him, and no one else. And here was Kurt thinking about trying to get closer to Albus, all because he had a little crush on him. Just the thought of him being in Albus' presence made him feel like a cheater. But he kept telling himself that it was nothing, he loved Blaine more than he loved Albus right now and that was all that matter. And even though he fantasized about it a little, it was unlikely that Albus was gay. Blaine was and was pretty much perfect for him, and if he let things in his mind go too far, he would lose the one he loved the most.

"… and I just complimented him and his friends on his singing because it was very nice and inspirational," Albus said, finishing off his sentence.

"I think that it wasn't necessary, he already knows he's an amazing singer and he doesn't need praise flying at him every second," Kurt inputted a little rudely. He had so much on his mind right now that he forgot about being nice towards Albus and not acting like a jerk.

"Kurt!" Rachel said, shocked turning to him. Kurt rolled his eyes and mouthed to her 'it's the truth!'

"Sorry Albus, Kurt is acting a bit weird today and I don't understand why. Trust me, he a lot nicer than this," Rachel apologized.

"I know, he was quite friendly when I bumped into him today," Albus said back to Rachel. Albus then cleared his throat and turned to face Kurt.

"Kurt remember what you said about Glee club this morning and how you wanted me to join?"

"Yes," Kurt said holding his breath, wondering what he was going to say next.

"Well, I was just telling Blaine how he inspired me to join it. His singing was outstanding and I felt that maybe this Glee club of yours wouldn't be too bad."

Kurt heart burst with excitement. Now he wanted to thank Blaine 100 times over for inspiring Albus to join. Everything now was falling perfectly into plan.

Rachel had her mouth gaped open. "You already told him about Glee club?"

"Well I…." Kurt said.

"You are a genius! I was going to tell him soon, but of course your one step ahead of me!" Rachel said as she clapped her hands together.

"You see we really need people for Nationals which is coming up really soon and the more in our club the merrier! You are joining right?" Rachel asked Albus.

"Yes I…"

"Perfect. Practise is right after lunch today and every other day. And sometimes it's after school, but only right before Nationals it will be after school," Rachel said as a matter of fact.

"Rachel, calm down, he just joined school today. There's no need to rush him into joining us today," Mercedes added.

Rachel ignored her and continued to talk. "So Albus I think it's a great idea that you're joining. I think you'll like it very much. Now, do you want to sit and have lunch with us?"

"Well that table looks very crowded I'm not sure if I…"

"Everyone, move over," Rachel said to them, almost yelling.

"Uh, Rachel if I move any further I'll be on the ground," Finn said from the end of the table.

"Exactly where you belong," Rachel said coldly.

"Come on Finn, if Rachel wants him to sit here, then we'll go eat somewhere else," Quinn told Finn, her boyfriend. Finn sighed and the two of them got up and walked off to eat in another location. Rachel looked a little upset for a second, but brushed it off and gestured for Albus to take a seat. Albus then slid right next to Kurt on the bench.

Kurt heart sped up a little as Albus rubbed his side briefly while sitting down. Kurt was on the brink of sweating of nervousness from being so close to him, and tried to pretend it was someone else sitting next to him, but that didn't work at all.

"So Albus," Artie started, "what have you been doing the last few days? Researching what us crazy American's do?

Albus, who was taking a lunch bag out of his backpack and opening it, hesitated a bit before replying with, "Kind of." He looked at Brittany, as if he was expecting her to say something, but she just kept silent and she turned to talk to Santana instead.

"That's cool," Rachel said absentmindedly before switching topics. "So do you miss your family at all?"

Albus looked down and was very quiet for a second, not sure what to say. "I-I do miss them a lot, but I will see them again once school is over." Then Albus softly added "I think." However Kurt was the only one who heard it and he could hear the pain in his voice, but not sure what he was so upset about. He sounded like he was never going to see his parents again, but Kurt just brushed it aside and assumed he was just a little homesick.

"It's okay, you'll probably go back home and visit them in summer. Summer isn't that far away," Kurt added in hoping it would cheer him up.

"I guess so," Albus said hopefully, but there was still this sad look behind his eyes. Kurt decided that he should change the topic, and decided to ask him about the waking up in glee club business.

"So what is this crazy story I've been hearing about you waking up in glee club. You said you would tell me?" Kurt asked, genuinely wanting to hear more.

"Well I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell now…"Albus said a little unsure.

"Albus if you don't want to tell it, because you were a little groggy that day and no offense the story wouldn't be as exciting from your perspective, I'll be obliged to tell Kurt," Rachel said excitedly.

"Go ahead," Albus said.

So Rachel talked about how he found him sleeping in the storage room and how Mr. Schue was going to call the police and how Brittany thought he was a wizard, but Kurt wished he could hear the story coming out of Albus' beautiful British tenor instead. While Rachel was telling it, Albus nodded along at parts to agree with what Rachel was telling was true. Finally Rachel was done.

"Well that was quite the story," Kurt said, a little confused but did understand the premise of the story.

"Yes I guess it was pretty weird for all of you guys," Albus said in a understanding way.

"And not weird for you?" Kurt said turning to Albus and trying not to make eye contact with him so he wouldn't be astounded and flustered by his eyes.

"I've…I've seen a lot weirder things," Albus said and Kurt wondered what could be weirder than waking up to a classroom full of strange kids.

"Mhmmhmm," Kurt nodded while pulling out his phone. It was almost one o'clock and that meant it was almost time for class, and Glee club.

"Well, look at the time," Kurt said. "It's almost time for class. I think we should get ready. I actually prepared a song to sing for my return to McKinley."

"What song is it?" Rachel questioned.

"It's a secret Rachel, you'll find out soon," Kurt told her, hoping she wouldn't insist.

"So Albus, what song are you going to sing for your audition? Is it by a British artist? You know which British artist I love right now? Adele. She's amazing!" Rachel gushed.

"Ummm…. Audition?" Albus said looking worried. "I have to sing in front of everyone?"

"Well yeah, that's what an audition is. Did you expect to join without singing anything?" Rachel stated.

"No it's just I don't kn...I don't have a song prepared."

"Well if you're going to join today, then you need a song ASAP," Rachel said getting up.

"Uh, could I just audition next week after I find a song and learn it," Albus asked nervously.

"Albus, trust me. You've got to join now. The year is almost over and I need vocal backup stat."

"You need vocal backup? Oh God Rachel are you still terrorizing and overtaking everyone else?" Kurt interrupted.

"Yeah go home terrorist," Santana suddenly joined in from the other side of the table. "You and your dictator's nose should let everyone else have a chance to sing for once."

"Excuse me, who did the lead singing for Regionals and lead us to victory. Me. And the only way we are going to win Nationals is if I sing," Rachel almost shouted at them and Kurt briefly looked at Albus and saw a look of worry and terror of his face.

"Rachel…" Kurt said trying to calm her.

"Albus," Rachel said grabbing his hand suddenly and Albus jolted. "We are going to find you a song to sing before class starts in 20 minutes so you can audition today."

"What? But I'm not even sure if I can sing?" Albus said, frightened by Rachel's persistence.

"I'll come with you," Kurt said getting up attempting to seize the opportunity and not let Rachel have Albus all to herself. "We need at least one somewhat sane person around here."

"Sure Kurt but I'm making the decision on what he should sing," Rachel said furiously as she picked up her bags and pretty much dragged Albus out of his seat.

"No Albus is deciding on what he should sing," Kurt said emphasizing the words Albus and he.

"Well we have no time to waste," Rachel said as she and Kurt quickly waved goodbye at everyone else and headed towards the school.

Albus who hadn't said much yet, followed Rachel sullenly as she fast walked into the school. Kurt ran behind Albus trying to make him feel a little better. After all if he wanted to win Albus over, he had to be the nice one in the situation and be positive.

"It's okay, she normally isn't this fired up," he whispered to Albus. "She just sometimes can come across as a psychotic bitc…" Kurt started but Rachel whipped her head around and interrupted him.

"Hurry class starts in less than 20 minutes," she yelled and sprinted off to the glee classroom.

Kurt turned back to Albus, "You know what I was going to say."

"I do. I when I met her back in class I thought almost the exact same thing," Albus said giving a smug smile and Kurt's heart skipped a beat when he did that. "Crazy, psychotic bitch."

Kurt grinned and even though he already liked him, he was slowly beginning to like him more as he got to know him.

"Definitely. But a nice one once you get to know her well and know how to please her. But we should hurry up if we want to find you a song."

"Agreed. What a crazy first day this has been for me. I didn't expect to be this stressed," Albus said shaking his head.

"I know. This is been a rollercoaster of a day for me too, full of surprises," Kurt said thinking about how many major events for him happened today. "And I have a feeling it's going get a whole lot crazier."


	15. Audition

**So I decided that I should thank everyone again. So thanks to all 60+ of you who have alerted, reviewed and favourited my story. You are so amazing and actually are the only reason I would keep writing this. And a special thank you to reviewers, because I love reviews!**

**So here is the audition chapter. Unfortunately I have exams coming up so I can't update for the next 2 weeks. I've got to study because if I don't study and I get below 90 %, my parents will disown me. Just kidding, but seriously, even below 90% is a death zone for me...The next chapter however is a flash to Hogwarts chapter to see what's Albus' family is up to. Stay tuned...**

**Finally thanks to InfinityEdge for the song. It's pretty much perfect!**

Audition

Rachel, Kurt and Albus entered the choir room in a rush. Especially Rachel. She wasted no time at all to find a song right for Albus.

"Okay, let's see," Rachel said examining some music sheets as well as an iPod that she produced from her backpack. "Now since you are British, I think it would be best if you sang a song by a British artist, perhaps the Beatles, Coldplay, or my personal favourite Adele?"

Albus stood there frozen, not sure who those people were."Um I…" he started.

"Rachel, I don't think he will be able to handle the vocals Adele's songs offer," Kurt said, waving his hand dismissively. "Maybe Coldplay or the Beatles but…"

"Well, have you ever heard him sing before?" Rachel asked in an annoyed tone.

"You haven't either," Kurt countered. Kurt huffed and pulled up a seat and plopped down. "Look how about we ask what Albus what he wants to sing?" Kurt turned towards him and gave a nod for him to speak.

"Erm, I really do want to join glee club but I'm afraid that, well you're not going to believe it but I have never sung before in my life," Albus said nervously pulling on a loose string on the oversized shirt he was wearing. "My sister likes to sing…"

Kurt's eyes widen, obviously shocked. "You have never sung. Ever? Didn't you tell me that you didn't know whether you could sing good or not?"

"Yeah but I don't know whether I could sing good enough for you because I've never tried singing," Albus told recalling what he told Kurt. Kurt gave him a horrified look.

"Kurt it's okay, he's probably just pulling our legs," Rachel said to him trying to be positive, but it was obvious that she doubted her own words. "I mean why else would he want to join?"

"No I'm telling the truth," Albus said as Kurt and Rachel freaked out. "Listen couldn't I just sing tomorrow or something. Or practice singing…"

"No, well you could but I think since we are here, you might as well try." Rachel said mustering together some confidence. "Look, our teacher Mr. Schuester has let pretty much everyone who has auditioned into the club. Even Lauren Zizes, who if I say so myself, isn't the best singer in the world. You'll be fine!"

"But what if he doesn't make it," Kurt said, looking a bit worried.

"Well he's not going to make it if he doesn't have a song to sing," Rachel snapped back. "Kurt, we have less than 10 minutes, think of a song he can sing!"

"I did and he just told me he can't sing," Kurt said exasperated.

"And that doesn't mean he hates music and songs," Rachel stated. "Okay Albus do you have a favourite song? Or artist?"

Albus bit his lip and tried to remember any specific singers or songs he had heard since he came here. But all he could recall was bits and pieces of lyrics and music and then he knew he was screwed if he didn't know a full song.

"Well," Albus started clearing his throat. "I-I like, um, the…Beatles." It was the first name that came to his head; he knew that Rachel mentioned whoever they were just moments ago.

"Good choice. They have a wide array of work so there is probably a good song for you to learn quickly," Rachel said as she sifted through the sheet music they had.

"Rachel, can you lend me your iPod? You do have some Beatles songs right?" Kurt asked her.

"Yeah go ahead," Rachel said as looked through a file labelled 'The Beatles'.

Albus watched the two of them as for the next few minutes were looking through the songs. Albus was a little tempted to use his wand and use a spell that could make him sing, but he didn't know any spells that could do that. Kurt had some headphones in and was listening to the songs Rachel had while Rachel was getting frustrated a bit and threw her hands up in the air.

"I-I don't know," she said. "There are too many songs out there and I don't know what will suit him. Is there any one song by the Beatles that you like?" Rachel asked Albus, almost giving up.

"I, um, well so many of their songs are…" Albus started to say.

"GOT IT!" Kurt shouted from where he was sitting. "I just found the perfect song that is a good song and represents Albus and the situation he is in."

Rachel immediately got up from the spew of papers she was sitting around and rushed to Kurt and leaned over his shoulder. "Oh my goodness you are a GENIUS!" Rachel said giving him a peck on his cheek. "Why didn't I think of that song?"

"Because you're not the genius here," Kurt smirked. "Hey Albus have you heard this song by the Beatles?" Albus approached him and grabbed the headphones from Kurt's hand and put them in his ears. Kurt played the song and Albus listened to each word they sung about. It was perfect; he just had to be confident about himself and not worry too much and it would be okay.

"Well?" Kurt said, waiting for an answer from Albus.

"I might have heard it before, but that doesn't matter. I'll give it a shot. I'll probably wing it though," Albus said shrugging his shoulders.

"Well as long as you sing it from your heart, it doesn't matter if you screw up," Rachel said giving him a little hug.

Albus smiled and replied, "Thanks a lot. I'll try my best. Could I borrow your iPod though? I might have to listen to it a couple times before I can sing it."

"Sure go ahead, Mr. Schue probably won't notice anyway," Rachel said taking it from Kurt and handing it to him. "Good luck!" she wished him as the bell rang and kids started to enter the room.

Albus sat in the corner of the classroom, putting the song on repeat and trying to shut everyone else out so he could learn the lyrics. He had listened to the song twice until he heard a loud clap and the talking behind him quieted down.

"Before I get started I thought…" the professor, Mr. Schuester he assumed, started then looked straight at him, a little confused. Albus stared, not sure what to say and tried to let the music block out everything else.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Mr. Schue asked, puzzled.

"Uh," Albus hesitated, slowly removing his headphones, not wanting to bring up incident that happened the last time he was here. "No, I'm new and…"

"He's the kid who woke up in here about a week ago, if that's what you are wondering," Santana cut in from across the room.

"Oh you're Brittany's pen pal, I remember now. But what are you doing here still?" Mr. Schue asked again confused.

"I decide to join McKinley until school is over. I transferred here you see," Albus said as Mr. Schue nodded.

"Well welcome here uh…" Mr. Schue said, not sure what his name was.

"Albus. Albus Potter, sir."

"Welcome here Albus. I'm Mr. Schuester by the way. So you've decided to join Glee club too?"

"Yeah. I actually wasn't going to do it but I changed my mind like half an hour ago."

"That's great! So are you ready to audition? You have to audition to be a part of it."

"Um, I guess so. Could I just do it at the end of class though?" Albus asked him, feeling not ready enough to sing in front of everyone yet.

"Sure go ahead. But before we get started I think that everyone should introduce themselves to Albus," Mr. Schue said gesturing to all of them. "Rachel why don't you go first?"

"Already did that Mr. Schuester," Rachel said beaming.

"Oh so you already know Rachel?" Mr. Schue asked Albus.

"Yes. We met in class today and she was nice enough to talk to me. I also already know Brittany obviously, Artie and Kurt," Albus added. The others shook their heads to confirm this.

"Well that's great that you made friends already," Mr. Schue said encouragingly. Albus almost laughed in spite of himself. Other than Brittany, he wouldn't exactly call them friends yet. They were just the few people who acted friendly towards him today. They were just acquaintances for now. "Now who don't you know?" Mr. Schue continued.

"Everyone else," Albus implied and he heard a few snickers from behind him.

"Well then, why don't we continue introductions," Mr. Schue declared and looked at all of them.

"I'm Finn," the tall boy blurted out as he stuck up his hand. "I like to sing and play football and…"

"Shut up Finn. I think that my IQ just dropped by 20 points since you opened your mouth," Brittany's friend Santana said. Albus noted that she was usually quite rude to this Finn boy and he wasn't sure why. "I'm Santana by the way and in case you haven't figured out, I'm kind of a bitch so if you irritate me or if you are just plain stupid like poor Finn over there, you might want to watch out."

"Santana," Mr. Schue said warningly. Albus was amazed that she didn't get any more punishment for acting that way in class. If someone talked like that at Hogwarts, they would have got detention immediately.

"Don't worry though Albus. You're on my good side now, but only because you have a hot accent," Santana said giving a sweet smile at him.

Albus gulped and nodded. He hoped that he would stay on her good side because from all the times he had seen her so far, he knew that being on her bad side was not too good. Albus listened as the rest of them continued to introduce themselves.

"Well my name is Quinn," the blonde girl next to Finn said. "I'm currently running for prom queen right now so if you are interested, perhaps you could vote for me? And Finn too. He's running for prom king."

Albus blanked out for a second, not sure what prom queen and king was. "Um, sure!" Albus said, and Quinn gave a reassuring smile back.

"I'm Tina," the Asian girl declared, "and this is my boyfriend Mike." She pointed to the Asian boy sitting next to her and he gave a short wave of the hand.

"And I'm Puck," the kid with the funny hair said. "And this is…"

"It's okay, I can introduce myself," the girl next to Puck said. "And I'm Lauren. We are also running for prom king and queen, but unlike Quinn over there, we aren't going to force your poor newbie soul to vote for us."

"Uh…okay," Albus said, still wondering what the whole business of this prom was. _This prom thing must be pretty important around here_, he thought.

"My name's Sam. Sam I am and I do not like green eggs…" the blonde boy started only to be cut off by none other than Santana.

"No offence, that's getting old. Is that the best pick up line you have?"

Sam ignored her and finished the sentence,"…and ham."

"That's nice. I don't think anyone would like those things," Albus said, feeling like what he said was a joke he didn't get.

Sam just nodded and he could tell he was a little surprised_. So I guess that was supposed to be an attempted joke, _he thought.

"And I'm Mercedes," the black girl said. "It's great that you joined out glee club. We also like having new people."

"Thanks I hope I'll make it thought," Albus stated, as his heart pounded at the fact he had to sing soon.

"Don't worry; like I told you before, everyone makes it!" Rachel said, but Albus could see it in her eyes that she wasn't 100% sure.

"Yeah as long as you have a song to sing, you'll be fine," Mr. Schue assured. Albus nodded at him and Mr. Schue decided to start the lesson.

"Now before we get started, I would just like to welcome Kurt back here at McKinley." A round of applause followed and Kurt stood up and faced the class.

"Thank you. I know that my presence will help you succeed in Nationals and to remind you about the voice I can lend you, I decided to sing a song that express my feelings for coming back," Kurt declared and as he finished the sentence he looked directly at Albus before turning to Mr. Schue. Albus felt a little uncomfortable but brushed it aside as Mr. Schue nodded his approval.

As soon as Kurt started singing, Albus was completely shocked. His voice was very high and he was hitting notes that he didn't even know was possible. Albus could feel the emotion pouring out of his voice and a couple of times again; Kurt looked at Albus for a second or so. Albus didn't think much of it again however he was very impressed, Kurt was an amazing singer and it blew him away just as much as when Blaine sung. As soon as Kurt finished the song, everyone one applauded and Albus saw out of the corner of his eye that Rachel was tearing up.

"Great job Kurt! What a great way to start the class," Mr. Schue said still applauding. Kurt smiled quietly saying 'thank you' and headed back to his seat, satisfied. Mr. Schue turned to Albus, "Now you have to live up to that!"

Albus, who was getting nervous again swallowed. "I really don't think I could do better than that."

"You never know until you try," Mr. Schue said and headed up to the white board nearby. "And now for today's lesson. Today will be learning about bands from the 70's…"

For the rest of class, Albus was feeling unsettled. How was he supposed to sing as good as that. Maybe he shouldn't have joined. He didn't know whether he could sing or not and here he was in a club that was all about singing. But he felt like he should be here still and now it was too late to just quit. Albus opened his bag and saw his wand sitting among all the other things. He brought it along to remind himself that he was a wizard, and that once a wizard, you're always a wizard. He thought of the many things he could do so that he would for sure get into the club, but Albus kept telling himself that being arrested and causing a commotion was not worth the risk.

Suddenly while Albus was deep in his thoughts and not really focusing on the lesson he heard someone call his name.

"Albus, do you want to sing now? Class is almost over," Mr. Schue asked him.

Albus took a deep breath. "Sure. I might as well."

Albus slowly rose from his seat and went to stand in front of the classroom. He noticed all the other students staring at him and whispering to each other before he had even said a word. Albus started to question whether he should sing or not.

_No, I must. I'm already here, I've got to do it,_ he thought to himself.

_But what if I forget the lyrics? I only listened to the song a few times. Damn it I'm screwed._

"So what song are you singing?" Mr. Schue questioned.

"Um, I'm going to be singing 'With a Little help from my Friends' by the Beatles," Albus carefully said.

"Well take it away!"

Albus closed his eyes for a second, hoping that if this was destiny, that things would just fall into place, like how it fell into place with his transcript. He needed to be here, he needed to successfully get in and befriend those around here. Like the song said, with a little help from his friends, he would get by and get back home properly. Albus took another deep breath and decided that even if he couldn't sing, he would try singing his heart out, for his family, his friends, and for Dumbledore.

_Well here it goes_, he thought and Albus opened his mouth and started to sing.

_What would you think if I sang out of tune,_

_Would you stand up and walk out on me._

_Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song,_

_And I'll try not to sing out of key._

_Oh I get by with a little help from my friends,_

_Mmm,I get high with a little help from my friends,_

_Mmm, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends. _

_Do you need anybody?_

_I need somebody to love._

_Could it be anybody?_

_I want somebody to love._

_What do I do when my love is away._

_(Does it worry you to be alone)_

_How do I feel by the end of the day_

_(Are you sad because you're on your own)_

_No, I get by with a little help from my friends,_

_Mmm, get high with a little help from my friends,_

_Mmm, gonna to try with a little help from my friends_

_Do you need anybody?_

_I need somebody to love._

_Could it be anybody?_

_I want somebody to love._

_Would you believe in a love at first sight?_

_Yes I'm certain that it happens all the time._

_What do you see when you turn out the light?_

_I can't tell you, but I know it's mine._

_Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends,_

_Mmm I get high with a little help from my friends,_

_Oh, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends_

_Do you need anybody?_

_I just need someone to love._

_Could it be anybody?_

_I want somebody to love_

_Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends,_

_Mmm, gonna try with a little help from my friends_

_Ooh, I get high with a little help from my friends_

_Yes I get by with a little help from my friends,_

_with a little help from my friends_

Albus sand out the last note as hard as he could and finished the song. The class was silent and Albus wondered if he screwed up the song or if he sounded terrible. Albus thought he did okay but he didn't know any better or anything about singing music correctly.

Then slowly everyone started clapping loudly. Kurt and Rachel were clapping the loudest and Rachel even jumped up and gave a little squeal.

"That was amazing Albus. You are actually a really good singer! I don't know what else to say," Rachel said joyously.

Albus smiled at her, grateful for the compliment and wad stunned. _I can sing? Holy crap! I actually can sing. How is this possible I never tried before!_ _And I apparently sound great._

"Yeah that was great Albus! I'm impressed!" Mr. Schue said slapping him on the back happily.

"So does this mean I made it?" Albus said, even though he already knew what Mr. Schue would say. He was just still in doubt and didn't believe he sang that well.

"Yes. Welcome to New Directions Albus!"


	16. Aftermath

**Where, where am I? What is this place? Fanfiction you say? Ah! Sounds familiar but I swear... oh wait NOW I remember. I'm writing a story. A story about Albus and Kurt.**

**HOWEVER this chapter as I mentioned previously is about James and the Potter's and what happened on the wizarding side. Sorry for not updating for 3 weeks. I had exams, then was sick and lazy for a bit but now I'm back! How lovely! (no not really)**

**The next chapter is also about James but I promise that the chapter after that will be back to Albus and Kurt and Rachel and all the insane people of Lima, Ohio. After all the story is mostly about them.**

**Also if you are wondering what The Incident is... You'll find out eventually. But it is a major plot point of the future.**

**So tell me, do you like this chapter? Are you happy to see wizards again? Please review and tell me what you think, or if you are confused, because it might be confusing. It's hard to write after 2 weeks of studying and a week of blowing my nose and sucking fishermen's friend (the cough thing you pervs, not friends of fishermen)**

**Anyway...**

Aftermath

James walked through the halls of Hogwarts once again in a daze. Wrapped in his own thoughts, he was almost oblivious to what was going on around him. That is until a first year charged up behind him and collided with him. A sudden electric shock ran through him and he turned around pulling his wand out of his robe and pointing it at the kid.

"I-I'm sorry. I was trying to catch up to this kid. He stole my box of chocolate frogs," the kid stuttered with a look of apprehension.

Normally James would have hexed the kid and ran off laughing with his friends, but he was walking by himself and he just wasn't in the mood to hex anyone anymore.

James slipped the wand back in his robe and nodded at the kid. "Well go and get him then." The kid sprinted off and James gazed onwards. What was wrong with him? The past week he had been quite moody and he was losing interest in activities such as hexing kids for fun, or pulling pranks on the professors, something him and his friends loved to do in the past few years. But he knew the reason why he wasn't acting like himself anymore; it was because Albus was missing. And he felt like he knew the reason why.

Ever since the day where he made Albus try to apparate and he successfully managed to apparate, he wasn't the same. It was just a silly game they were playing that gone too far and James ended up pushing Albus to his limits with dreadful consequences. He just wanted to see if Albus would try for fun, he didn't think he could actually do it. But Albus did and James was surprised. He though back to the day it happened.

_The room had fell silent after the sudden crack of the apparition. Albus was no more there. Just like that he had vanished into thin air, without even trying._

"_Blimey, Albus did it!" Hugo said shocked. "He apparated to the field!"_

_Rose was stunned too. "I-I still can't believe he did it! It should be nearly impossible for someone who hasn't done it before. First, let's go check to see if he's there first. For all we know, he could be somewhere else."_

"_Rose, where else could he be? He couldn't just apparate to a random place," James said doubtfully._

_The 3 of them, and Lily headed outside to the large field where he was supposed to be in._

"_I don't see him," Rose said nervously._

"_That's because it is pitch black outside," Hugo answered, rolling his eyes._

"_I know but you could see a shadow or hear him…okay. Whatever. Lumos!" Rose muttered raising her wand. A burst of light came out and Rose shone it around the field. "Albus! Albus are you out here?"_

"_Albus! Okay, you apparated, I'll give you the broomstick! Just come back inside now," James yelled._

_But none of them heard a reply. They continued to call and nothing, not even the sound of snapping twig was heard other than their voices._

"_Albus! This isn't funny anymore. You can come back!" James shouted un-amused._

_Oh my God where is he? He's not here. I'm sure of it!" Rose wailed. _

"_Keep searching. He's got to be…" James said gruffly. _

"_No," Rose said and stared him in the eye. "He can't be here. Albus isn't dumb. It's almost midnight and it's freezing out here. He either apparated somewhere else or ran away after he apparated here."_

"_Don't be absurd. He wouldn't run away, especially with no place to go or with nothing with him. And how could he run away that quickly? Anyway, I don't think he hates it here…" James said a little doubtfully._

"_Well I remember once that he told me that he felt overshadowed by you and dad. That everyone would always talk about how amazing his father was and how everyone always loved you and how you were popular. He felt trapped in the middle and felt like he couldn't please anyone," Lily told James. _

"_He never said anything like that to me," James said even though he knew exactly what Lily meant._

"_Well he talked to me a couple times and he wished that he could do something great with his life, not just be the shadow of Harry Potter," Lily continued._

_James stared at the ground. He hoped that Albus didn't run away, because of him and what he had done to him. Or because of The Incident. James sucked in his breath and tried to push away the thought of The Incident, the thing that had severed their relationship a little and made him change his whole persona. The Incident was terrible, a moment in his life that he would never forget, because of how Albus lost his trust in him, something that was so precious for the longest time between them. But what if…_

"_No. No I don't think he ran away. Don't be stupid. He just probably apparated somewhere else nearby," James said loudly. He really, really hoped that he didn't run away._

"_Well, shouldn't he be able to hear us then?" Rose cried out loud. "I have a bad feeling that he isn't nearby."_

"_Well… I don't frigging know, just keep looking. He's nearby I swear…"James told them loudly, silencing them from saying anymore. He gulped, trying to swallow the doubt that was in him. _

_5 minutes later of half-hearted searching, Lily collapsed on the ground and sobbed. "It's no good, he's not here. We've got to tell mum and dad. Maybe they could do something about it. Poor Albus he's lost for sure now. What –what if he apparated in a dragon's den, or what if he splinched his body and is in great pain or…"_

"_NO!" James yelled at them again. "We can't tell mum or dad yet. I bet Albus is here, snickering in the bushes making a fool out of us."_

"_Lily's right James. It's nearly midnight and it's no use. He would have come out by now, he's not a fool. This means for sure he did not apparate nearby," Rose said in defeat._

"_But where did he go then? To apparate you must be ab_le_ to picture the place you going to be at. It's impossible for someone to apparate to a place they don't know!" James cried out._

"_Nothing is impossible in the wizarding world," Rose said solemnly. _

_Suddenly the back door of the house burst open and James saw his mum and dad run outside. His mum was in a purple bathrobe and her red hair flared out behind her. His dad was wearing a t-shirt and blue sweatpants and was arranging his glasses as he hurried out._

"_Kids, what are you doing out here in this weather?" Mrs. Potter asked them. "It's very late, you should be getting to bed."_

"_Mum I-I, well I would like to but, you see," Lily started but burst into tears again._

"_Honey what's the matter?" Mrs. Potter asked her daughter._

"_It's Albus," James cut in. "He's missing. We were playing a game, and I- well he tried to apparate he succeeded and I don't know where he is now." James closed his eyes, deeply hoping he would not get in trouble, or hoping this was one big joke and Albus would pop out of nowhere right about now and laugh at them and say 'I'm right here.' _

"_James, did you say that he managed to apparate and he is missing," his dad, Harry Potter asked him as he approached. His brow furrowed and he looked James right in the eye._

"_Yes. We don't know where he is now," James said trying to contain himself from the emotions that were flowing within him._

_His parents were dead silent and stared blankly at the 4 of them. His dad absentmindedly raised his right and touched his forehead, where his scar was. It hadn't pained him for 25 years but James knew whenever his dad was worried, he would touch the lightning bolt shaped scar and quickly realize that it meant nothing anymore._

"_But," Mr. Potter started, "he hasn't learned to apparate yet, right. How could he…"_

"_I don't know. I don't know, I don't know, I DON'T FRICKING KNOW," James yelled at the top of his lungs. An eerie echo ensured in the field and no one spoke for a minute. James looked at his mother who was chillingly silent. He was amazed she hadn't cried yet and kept her composure. _

"_Harry," his mum spoke quietly. "Go contact the Ministry now. They will do something about it." His dad gulped and sprinted inside immediately. Ginny Potter turned to her kids and niece and nephew. "I want you to go inside now and head into your rooms and don't come down. Except for James." _

_James held his breath and nodded. He turned to Lily, Rose and Hugo who had been quiet for a while now. Rose and Lily were crying in silence and Hugo looked quite pale. They slowly headed inside and James and his mum followed them. _

_By the time they got inside, James saw 2 members of the ministry already standing in the house. _

"_That was fast," James said to himself and one of the men, a tall white guy with a buzz cut and a large nose answered him. "It's because we apparated. Which is why we are here. To discuss this disappearance of your brother."_

"_What do you want to know? He just disapparated from here that's all," James rolled his eyes and showed a little attitude. _

"_SON," his dad said loudly. James almost jumped back in shock from the tone of his voice. He rarely used that voice and when he did he knew it was serious business. "Please sit down and tell us what happened."_

"_Every detail," said the other ministry member, a short pudgy man who had a fluffy hunter's hat on his head, even though it was spring._

_So James told them everything. He told them what happened that night, but did not mention any possible thoughts he had about Albus running away. It was just merely the assumption that he apparated somewhere. James didn't even try to focus or look at anyone. He was determined on just telling them what happened and getting this done. Everything went by in a blur and by the end of it, James mind was so tired he had trouble functioning and wasn't even listening to what the 2 ministers discuss what they could do, who names he managed to pick up were Wilde and Enstrom, were saying. There was only one thing that they said that stood out in his mind. _

"_Well I'm afraid that we cannot help you. We are unable to trace his wand to the location he is at so you just have to hope he isn't splinched and is safe."_

_And with those words ringing through his ears as the useless ministers left, James headed to his bedroom unable to sleep. He heard his mum and dad follow behind him, in an uncomfortable silence. His parents weren't the type of people who would cry. They had been through so much in the past that they hardly showed any emotions of sadness in front of their kids and other relatives. But James swore as their room door swung shut, a loud cry, most likely coming from his mum._

_James carefully opened his room door. He scanned it and his eyes came to rest on the empty bed in the corner of the room. Albus' bed. He averted his eyes quickly and looked at his cousin Hugo, sound asleep with his head jammed under his pillow. James didn't bother changing out of his jeans and slid under the covers of his bed, wanting to hide from all the problems that had happened. It was his fault for sure. He knew everything was his fault, though no one seemed to acknowledge it. Albus might have felt overshadowed, but James would have rather felt overshadowed then overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by all the pain he had caused and how nothing seemed right every time he walked in someone's path. Then everything hit him. Everything he had been holding back poured out and it became clear that he screwed up. Not Albus. Him. _

_And for the first time in years, James felt guilty for what he had done to someone and sobbed uncontrollably into his pillow until the sun rose beyond the horizon. _

James came up to the Gryffindor common room. He looked up at the Fat Lady who was munching on grapes while lying on the base of her portrait.

"mmmPasswvrdd?" she asked as usual with a mouth stuffed with grapes.

"_Evanescere"_ he muttered, not really approving the choice of password this month.

"Proceed."

James swung open the portrait door and looked at the common room. Particularly he turned towards the little shrine that was made for Albus when people found out he was missing. It was complete with candles and pictures and even random dragon's scales. James walked towards it and looked at it again, as he did every day.

He observed the first and largest newspaper clipping that was in the Daily Prophet the day after Albus disapparated.

**Harry Potter's Son: Missing**

He snorted at it. He was starting to understand what Lily said about Albus feeling overshadowed. Harry Potter's son, not Albus Potter. The prophet just loved Harry Potter after the War was over; it was impossible to not find at least one newspaper article about him per week. He looked again at the picture of Albus from about a year ago, of him playing Quidditch and laughing and smiling. Then he looked at the other picture on the article, a family portrait. James looked at his dad, mum, Albus and Lily, then looked at himself. He definitely was the odd one out in the picture.

The picture, which was taken about ½ a year ago, showed that he was definitely the rebel of the family. Dark jet black hair was swooped to one side, nearly covering his eye and you could see the stretched ear lobes that he had and the silver eyebrow piercing on the eye brow that wasn't covered. He smiled at himself, remembering how mad his mum was when he came back during the summer after spending 3 days at one of his Muggle's friend's houses, with stretched earlobes and a newly pierced brow. His friend had stretched lobes too, and pleaded him to get it, and without even asking his parents got them pierced and stretched, and pierced his eyebrow for the fun of it as the cherry on top. He had to remove his eyebrow piercing a month later because his mum found it disgusting, but convinced his mum to keep his earlobes stretched.

James sometimes wondered why he wasn't put in Slytherin. He was always kind of a rebel, was one of the few Gryffindor kids who hexed kids for the fun of it and even had friends in Slytherin. The Sorting Hat must have assumed that being brave was doing things like getting your eyebrow pierced without permission. But he had only become rebellious in the last 2 years. Ever since… well The Incident was part of it, but it was almost just a phase as well.

But now, he felt like he was always a rebel, he just tried to hide it until he discovered his true self. And even though by discovering his true self he had ended up hurting Albus, he didn't regret it. Okay, that was a lie, he regretted every little thing about The Incident, but it was almost like destiny. Like all of what happened, was supposed to happen and that it would shape the future, as cheesy as it sounded.

James turned away from the shrine, and headed towards the dorm. He ran up to his bed and flopped down on it. He should have been doing homework, or preparing for the final exams but he felt that it was pointless. He wasn't going to finish school at Hogwarts without Albus, even though Albus only was supposed to finish it next year.

James closed his eyes and thought to himself_. So Albus apparated somewhere right? And he could be anywhere. Okay well, let me think logically. Since apparating was very hard to accomplish overseas, he was most likely in the UK. But where though?_ _It still could be anywhere._

Frustrated, James got out of his bed and started to pace the room. The idea of Albus running away was coming back to him. Or running away because of him. He never though Albus hated him that much after The Incident, but if he did in fact hate him, he did a very good job of covering up his hatred.

If Albus ran away after he apparated because of him, he was the only one who could bring Albus back. He was the only one who knew what exactly happened and he was the only one who could do anything about it. He discovered the rebellious side of him through a mistake, and he had to use his rebellious side to fix it and find Albus.

James sprinted to the drawer where he kept his clothes. He opened it quickly and rummaged through it looking for one item in particular. Then he saw it. A shimmering cloak. An invisibility cloak.

James picked it up and admired the beauty of it. He only used it a couple of times for fun ever since his dad gave it to him when he started school at Hogwarts, but he finally found a true purpose for it. Tonight, he would leave Hogwarts through one of the secret passages and go and search for Albus and bring him back safely. It was the only reasonable thing he could do now. He had to forget about finishing school, forget about his friends, and forget about everything else that mattered. Because finding his brother alive was more important.


	17. Escape

**Hi. Sorry for not updating last week. I'm at the part of the story where I'm having writer's block. I did finish this chapter last week, it's just that I like to finish the chapter after before uploading the next one. I'm actually not finished the next chapter, I'm half way done, but I know where it is going now so I'm uploading this today anyway. **

**Also I'm apologizing in advance if I don't upload weekly from now onwards. I'll try my best but this middle part is going to be hard to write because I'm not sure how's it's going to go. I know how my story ends don't worry, but I just want the characters to get to know each other so the middle is going to be anecdotes of Kurt Rachel and Brittany and everyone else getting to know Albus. As well as James and his explorations, but not as much.**

**I'll tell you when I'm on a roll again and know exactly what I'm writing.**

**Anyway I hope you enjoy. This is still James point of view. After that it will be back to Albus. **

**Thanks for the alerts, favourites and review. You guys are awesome and are the reason I write. Specially thanks to 11ebq11 because you are a good reviewer and an awesome person :D**

** PS DON"T OWN HARRY POTTER OR GLEE.**

**PPS I'm excited yet worried for this/next's weeks episode of Glee. Are you? (yes, yes you are)**

* * *

><p>Escape<p>

James was ready. It was almost midnight and he was ready to leave.

After attending potions for one last time, then having supper, he came back to the dorm room prepared to leave Hogwarts until he found Albus. He hadn't told anyone about his plans, but he knew that if he didn't tell anyone soon, his parents would freak out and start to think someone was kidnapping their children. There was only one person he could tell though, only one person he trusted here in Hogwarts. And that was his sister Lily. He would tell her just before he would leave though.

James examined all the things he was going to take. He had a little brown satchel with an undetectable extension charm, so he could take as many things as possible. He brought it with him to dinner and sneakily put some food in for the next few days so he wouldn't have to buy anything yet. He had a spell book that he took from the library, so he knew what spells and charms he could use. He had all his Muggle clothes (jeans, shirts, jackets etc.), so he could blend in easily and not be recognized as a student from Hogwarts, and some money. However he would have to make a quick stop at Gringrotts to take out as much money as possible and exchange some of it into the Muggle pounds, so he could get around easier. Then he had a sleeping bag, which he planned to sleep in obviously, and his wand. He would have to move quickly though, he didn't want to be caught.

James had no plan, other than escaping to Hogsmeade, leaving it, then apparating to Gringrotts and getting money, followed by wandering the mundane British country side, hoping to find Albus. It was a stupid, stupid idea. There was little chance he could find him. But James was going to take that little chance, and hope with all his heart that he would run into him.

Gathering all his things into the satchel and changing into jeans, a t-shirt, a jacket and mitts (just in case), James finally exited the dorm into the common room. He was just about to put the invisibility cloak on when he realized he still had to tell Lily what he was about to do. She was probably sleeping in her dorm right now, but he needed to wake her up and tell her what was going on.

He looked at the cloak in his hand and threw it on anyway and made his way into the girl's dorm quietly. He spotted her bed and saw Lily asleep. She looked very peaceful and serene. Could he really trust his 15 year old sister with this secret? Yes, because there was no one else he could run too.

James snuck up to her bed, still in the invisibility cloak and tapped her on the shoulder. She stirred but didn't awaken.

"Lily," James whispered, poking her in the shoulder. She opened her eyes, confused, but James removed the cloak and she nearly screamed. James managed to cover her mouth before anyone else in the dorm woke.

"What the bloody hell are you doing in here?" Lily whispered loudly.

"I'm leaving. I'm going to find Albus. Hold on a second," James said as he took out his wand to cast as spell. "_Muffliato_."

There was a sudden silence after he cast the spell. "Are you mad?" Lily questioned harshly.

"Possibly. Look, I think that Albus ran away after he apparated because of me."

"What did you do to him? You haven't done anything bad to him right?"

"Well…It's hard to explain, but I kind of hurt him, not physically, but emotionally. It was less than 2 years ago, and I think that he hasn't forgiven me for what I've done. Because I didn't say I was sorry."

"So you want to find him? You ARE mad, no one knows where he is."

"I know. I'm still going to try though. It-it's my fault you know," James stuttered. "I was the one who wanted to play the truth or dare game. If it wasn't for me, he would still be here. I was the only one who he wanted to run away from."

"You really think that Albus ran away? I don't think he hated you."

"I think that he did a good job of covering it up. I think he felt like it was useless here. So when he apparated to somewhere, possibly the field, he booked it off and never turned back. He wanted to start a new life, one where people would care about him, one where he wasn't just Harry Potter's son like you said before, one where he actually had friends that weren't his relatives and siblings. A life where I wouldn't be always ahead of him and better than him."

"Albus had tons of friends, right? I mean he always has someone hanging out with him," Lily asked.

"Well, he told me one time that he only had one true friend that wasn't us or Rose and Hugo. Those people who hang out with him are just there because his last name is Potter. He never really liked them," James said as his mind flashed back to the talk they had after The Incident. He was starting to feel guiltier by the second.

"Ethan right," Lily stated.

"Yeah. You see Lily I am the only one who can fix this. I've got to leave and find him."

"What about school? Your finishing this year, you can't just…"

"Yes I can. I will. Screw school, I'll come back once I find him. Anyway, he has to be in the UK, it's impossible for him to apparate overseas."

"Anything is possible. You though Albus couldn't apparate but look what he did."

"Okay, it's most likely he's in UK. Lily I'm telling you all these things, but you must not tell anyone else. Not Rose or Hugo. No professors. No friends. And especially not mum or dad. Promise will you?" James desperately asked.

Lily stared at the bed sheets for a second, lost for words. "You're leaving now?"

James bit his lip. "I've got to. I've got to go as soon as possible."

"I-I won't tell I promise. Do we need to make an Unbreakable vow? "

"Nah, I trust you," James said chuckling as he started to pull the cloak on himself again.

"First Albus, now you. I'm not sure I can live without both my brothers," Lily said and James could see tears forming on her eyes.

"Don't worry I'll be fine. I'll try to stay in Muggle locations, nothing can hurt me there."

"I know, but I'll miss you. A lot."

"Lily there's a reason why you are put in Gryffindor. You're brave. You'll fight through this, I know. Just don't worry about me, focus on your O.W.L.S and don't tell anyone."

"Okay. I'll try. Good luck. I hope you find him. Alive especially," Lily said as she reached out to give James a hug. James hugged back and his heart sunk and he almost questioned himself why he was doing this.

"I hope so too."

James put on the invisibility cloak and snuck out the portrait door. He knew where the nearest secret passage was and quietly headed towards it. The moonlight shone through the stained glass window nearby and James slowly made his way towards the location of the gargoyle statue, where the passage was.

As James snuck through the dead silent halls of Hogwarts, he kept his eye out for any ghosts or teachers who might be roaming the castle. The last thing he wanted to do was get caught and put in detention, so he had to be extra cautious. However, there was not even a sign that anyone had been there in the last hour. James felt relieved that there was absolutely no one around. But he picked up his pace just in case.

Finally James was within meters of the passageway. James saw the statue, a grey stone, smiling gargoyle. He carefully tip toed towards it and gently skimmed the bottom of it. He found the loose stone at the base of the statue that opened the passage. He pushed it and the statue moved aside, revealing a small tunnel that lead to Hogsmeade. It was an awkward size, too small to walk through, but a bit too large for crawling. The only way to get through it was to get on all fours and inch your way forwards. He had used this passage once before you he knew that it lead to the Hog's Head pub and from there onwards he knew where the gate out of Hogsmeade was. James quickly stuffed his wand in his mouth, just in case.

James crawled through the tunnel making sure that the invisibility cloak didn't come undone and that his wand hadn't fallen out of his mouth. There was still a foot above his head while he crawled but it was just good for breathing room. After what seemed like an hour even though it was only 15 minutes he was standing in the Hog's head which was empty except for the bartender who was fast asleep at the counter.

"Boy, it's my lucky day," James murmured to himself and quietly tip toed across the musty pub and gently opened the door and headed outside.

Hogsmeade which was normally busy, was eerily still in the dead of night. James held his breath in awe as he made his way down to the gate that separated Hogsmeade from the rest of the land. He took one final glimpse at Hogsmeade and Hogwarts in the distance and slowly started to walk away from everything. He approached the tall black gate that said 'Welcome to Hogsmeade'. It was pad locked by a big silver chain and lock. There was no sign of anyone so he threw off his cloak and stuffed it into the satchel.

"_Alohomora_," James whispered, and the lock fell apart. James pushed open the gate and it creaked loudly, and James sighed in relief that there was no one who was awake nearby. He closed the gate once more and carefully locked it again. He did it. He was free. Now he could apparate safely, but he thought it would be better if he walked quite a distance from here.

James was ready. It was midnight now and he was ready to leave.

He was ready to find Albus.


	18. Shopping

**So these next few chapters will be Lima based. If you are wondering about James, don't worry there will be chapters about his adventures but not as much. Right now this is focused on Albus' relationship's with Kurt, Rachel, Brittany etc. **

**If you are wondering if I have anything planned out or if I'm just doing whatever comes to the top of my head, I do have things planned. **

**Reviews/ whatever are great. Do enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Shopping<p>

Kurt gently shut his locker door and glanced down the row of locker's towards Albus. Albus was fumbling with his lock and while trying to open his locker, dropped the binder he was holding in the crook of his arm.

_God, he's so awkward, but it makes him 10 times cuter, _Kurt thought as he stared down the hallway. It had been a few days since Kurt came back to McKinley, and a few days since Albus joined there as well. Kurt seldom had Albus in his classes however, but whenever he had a class with him or whenever Glee club was on, he would not be afraid to go up and talk to Albus. Albus however was still a little closed up so their conversations didn't go too far. Kurt really wanted to get to know him better, but the fact that he hardly saw him got in the way.

Kurt looked onward as Albus placed the binder into his locker and swung the door shut. He then made his way towards 2 girls standing at the end of the hallway. Brittany and Santana. He immediately stood next to Brittany.

Kurt pursed his lips and rolled his eyes. That was the other problem. Brittany. Since Albus was living with Brittany, he clung on to her like saran wrap every day while at school. Kurt could tell that he felt more comfortable around her compared to him or even Rachel. He knew that Albus wasn't the type of person who approached people, other than Brittany. So in order to get to know him better, Kurt had to make the effort. But what could he do?

Suddenly someone tapped him on the shoulder. Kurt jumped a little and looked around to find out it was Rachel.

"Hey Kurt."

"Hi. What do you want?" Kurt questioned. He knew that she was not just simply saying hi.

"Well I thought it would be the best to tell you this first. What would you think about me getting a nose job?"

Kurt spun around. "Are you mental?"

"Well my nose is kind of big and since it broken right now I might as well…"

"No Rachel. Your nose is fine. Well okay it's not fine right now but when it heals it will be wonderful. Do you really want to spit in Barbara Streisand's legacy?"

Rachel hesitated. "Well now that you put it that way…"

"Rachel you're beautiful. You don't need a smaller nose to be a Broadway star. You just have to believe in yourself and know that you are more talented than the rest, no matter how they look."

Rachel slowly nodded. "You're right. I know it looks dreadful now but it's what makes me, me!" Rachel smiled at him. "Thank you so much Kurt! You are like the wisest person I know!"

"I try. I try," Kurt smiled back at her. "I was going to plan a Barbara-vention flash mob at the mall if you disagreed with me, but I guess I don't have to anymore. Speaking of the mall, how does a shopping trip tonight sound like to you?"

"Um shopping? Didn't we just go a few days ago?" Rachel asked a little confused.

"Yes, except this time it's not shopping for us, it's shopping for him," Kurt stated gesturing towards Albus.

"Ah," Rachel said clearly understanding. "Yes, his clothes are well… a bit oversized don't you think?"

"Exactly. I mean he's a wonderful person and all but his clothes are just…no. It's like he went to the plus size section of a thrift store."

"So we are going to give him a makeover?"

"No, we are just get him some new clothes and whatnot," Kurt said trying to contain his excitement. He looked at Albus again who was still standing near Brittany, but off to the side a little giving room for Santana and Brittany to talk. Soon Brittany and Santana walked off together, leaving Albus standing by himself in the hall.

"Let's ask him now," Kurt said turning to Rachel.

The two of them walked alongside each other beaming as they approached Albus.

"Hi Albus! I haven't seen you at all today," Kurt said casually, feeling quite confident about himself.

"Oh funny cause I just saw you a few minutes ago and I was pretty sure you were looking at me," Albus said. Kurt's smile immediately fell and his cheeks got a little warm, feeling a little worried yet glad that he saw him looking. However Rachel picked off where he started.

"Say would you like to come shopping with us tonight? I think there's a sale at the mall and no offense but you definitely need new clothes. The XXL t-shirts aren't working out for you."

Albus paused, contemplating their suggestion. "That's sounds great! I really do need new clothes. These clothes get kind of annoying after a while. They are too large."

"Then why did you bring them here?" Kurt asked a little suspicious, as to why he would bring clothes that he didn't like.

"Uh…well…my mum packed my luggage before coming here. She might have put my dad's stuff in here instead of mine. So I only got one good set of clothes," Albus admitted.

"I see…" Kurt observed not bothering to question him any further.

"So we'll pick you up at Brittany's at around six. And don't worry we will pay for whatever clothes you want. Consider it a treat to welcome you here!" Rachel said with enthusiasm.

"Wow thanks guys. I appreciate it," Albus said smiling happily at them. "I guess I'll see you later. Bye Rachel. Bye Kurt," Albus said as he headed off to presumably another class.

"Bye Albus!" Rachel gushed while waving her hand. Kurt just stood and gave a short wave before he turned to Rachel.

"He's so sweet, right?" Rachel remarked.

"Yeah, he's a nice kid," Kurt said levelling his voice trying to not sound like he was all over him. After all the last thing he wanted was for Rachel to find out he had a crush on him.

* * *

><p>At precisely 6 pm, Kurt pulled up at Brittany's house in his dad's old car with Rachel in the shot gun. Kurt honked the horn as shortly afterwards, Albus came running out the door. He instantly opened the back door and slid into the car.<p>

"Hey guys. So we are off to the mall now?"

"Of course. We might get a snack later on but for now, the mall is where we shall go," Kurt said as he gripped his hands on the steering wheel.

"Sounds great."

The first few minutes of the ride were awkwardly silent. Normally that wasn't the case when Kurt was with Rachel but today both of them just weren't saying anything. Kurt was afraid that he was going to say something stupid again and was just hoping on Rachel to strike up a conversation but she was quiet too. He heard Albus fidgeting with something in the back of the car clearly a bit nervous.

Kurt cleared his throat and carefully planned out what he was going to say.

"So how do you find America right now?"

"Well it's interesting. Everything is so big and there's so much to do. I kind of like it though."

"That's good. It must be a big change for you."

"Bigger than you think," Albus told him.

Kurt wondered what he meant by that but decided to just focus on the road. Within minutes they finally reached the Lima Heights mall and Kurt was glad the painful car ride was over. He didn't think it would have been that bad, but now he just had to focus on getting more suitable clothes for Albus.

The 3 of them hopped out of the car and entered the sliding doors of the mall. It was somewhat busy but it was nothing compared to weekends. The mall was an airy open sort of mall, with stunning white floors and wall tiles. It consisted of over 100 shops, high end to low end, and was randomly placed with tropical looking plants. Kurt breathed in and sighed. He could come here almost every day and not feel unwelcome here. Kurt glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Rachel already talking to Albus.

"So what shops do you like to go to? Personally I like Forever 21 and this little dress boutique called St. Claire at the end of the mall. It's where I got the dress I'm wearing now." Rachel spun around, flaring her dress and Albus nodded. Kurt rolled his eyes and cut in.

"Rachel I don't think Albus wears dresses, so there's no point suggesting St. Claire or that other scary boutique with the statues of disproportionate cats," Kurt retorted as he turned to Albus. "I think a good place to start would be something like American Eagle or Hollister, something that guys tend to wear. How does that sound?"

Albus shrugged his shoulders. "Sure. You probably know better than me."

So they headed off to American Eagle. Kurt noticed as he was walking that Albus was much in awe of the place. It was as if he had never been to a mall before._ Well by the way he dresses, it could be possible_, Kurt thought to himself.

Kurt also noticed that Rachel was suddenly being a bit clingy. She was shoulder to shoulder with Albus while Kurt was a least a foot from Albus. It irritated him a little. She was acting like she was best friends with Albus even though she hardly knew him. She was also smiling a lot and while Albus was walking and checking out the mall he accidently stepped on her foot. But Rachel didn't say 'ow' or anything. She just giggled and gave Albus a friendly punch. Albus quickly said sorry and Rachel just waved it off.

_Who does she think she is? A 12 year old girl meeting Justin Bieber or something_, Kurt fumed inside. _She's just blatantly flirting with him and she hardly knows him._

Did Rachel have a crush on him too? Or was she just acting desperate because she was single and had no one to go with to the prom. Or maybe it was both. But either way Kurt didn't like it. She had no right to makes advances towards the new British kid, especially when he was there with them

_Oh here I go being all possessive again,_ Kurt told himself. _Acting like I own Albus and like I'm the only one who can be with him. But I guess I'll just let her flirt. I have a boyfriend, she doesn't. She is just feeling lonely because she isn't with Finn anymore and wants to make the best of it._

But the devil on Kurt's other shoulder was speaking too. _No Albus has to be mine. I was the first one to meet him, other than Brittany, but that doesn't really count. Rachel doesn't need him. I do. I need a little British flavour in my life._

Kurt shook his head and tried to clear out his thoughts as the reached American Eagle. The 3 of them entered the store and Albus looked somewhat lost as he gazed the area of the store. Albus finally decided to speak up then.

"Well um guys. To be honest I'm not the type of person who shops really and I've never been here before…"

"Wait, you've never been to…" Rachel interrupted.

"Yes but can I finish?" Albus said, clearly a bit impatient. Rachel smiled and nodded, while Kurt admired his irritated, no-funny-business side for a second.

"So is it okay if you guys just pick out the clothes for me?" Albus continued.

"Absolutely!" Kurt said delighted. He was hoping he would say that.

"Well… I was actually hoping Rachel would pick them out. Girls like shopping better and know what clothes to buy. Your clothes aren't really my style but I'm guessing it's because guys aren't as interested in clothes so you just kind of pick whatever looks cool."

Kurt felt as if someone had slapped him with a spray of freezing cold water. How dare he insult his fashion sense. He was the one who they were shopping for because of his clothing choice.

"Excuse me?" Kurt questioned trying his best to keep calm. But on the inside he was furious.

"Well Kurt you can help out if you want, but I just thought that Rachel would be better for this. I read on the internet…"

Kurt decided just to give up. He pretended that Albus didn't say anything about his fashion sense at all. He didn't know any better, but he really didn't want to get off the wrong foot with him. He was too hot to become enemies with.

"Fine. Whatever," Kurt said dismissively. "However I did happen to find Finn's American Eagle gift card just lying on the room of his bedroom floor, untouched for I'm guessing 6 months, so I'm paying."

So the shopping spree started. Rachel immediately grabbed Albus by the arm and pulled him towards the men's section while Kurt dully followed behind. Rachel grabbed anything she could get her hands on, from shirts, to sweaters to jeans. Albus didn't even have time to say anything, he just nodded at every selection Rachel had gotten him. After 20 minutes or so, they proceeded to the change room to get Albus to try on the clothes.

"Okay, now just go in here and make you try on all the clothes and come out and show us when you're done, does that sound ok? Good," Rachel said hastily and nearly shoved Albus in the change room. Albus walked in, with a look of bewilderment, then closed the door. Rachel immediately turned to Kurt.

"Oh my goodness, isn't this so exciting?"

"No. Not really," Kurt said quickly. "Maybe it is for you, but not for me since I don't get to pick clothes because apparently I just pick whatever and have no fashion sense."

"I think you have tons of fashion sense," Rachel coaxed him a little. "He just doesn't understand you yet."

"Mmhmm," Kurt said. "He might not understand me and I might not understand him fully, but you act like you have been BFF's since you came out of the womb."

"Well…I…" Rachel started, fidgeting but Albus suddenly came out of the change room in his outfit.

"Umm guys? How does this look? I think it's a bit too tight…" Albus started. He was wearing a dark green long sleeve shirt, as well navy blue jeans, that defined his muscles and made him look ten times better than previously.

For the first few seconds Kurt and Rachel were speechless. Both of them obviously were shocked by how well toned he was. Rachel finally spoke up.

"Umm, you look…wow."

"But don't you think it's a bit tig…"

"NO. It's fine fits you perfectly," Kurt interrupted. "You are just used to wearing baggy clothes so correctly fitting clothes seem abnormal."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Rachel said before Kurt could open his mouth to answer. She got up out of the seat she was sitting in and gently pushed in back towards the room. "Now go back in and make sure you try everything else on!"

Albus hesitantly nodded and walked back into the change room. As soon as he entered back in, Rachel turned to Kurt.

"Did you see how perfect his body was in that shirt?" Rachel nearly squealed. "Also I never realized how nice of an ass he has too. And I'm not even the type of person who cares about those things. However, I think he is just absolutely divine."

On the outside Kurt was calm but on the inside he wanted to scream with agreement and gush about him some more. Kurt however needed to steer this conversation in a different direction so that he wouldn't have to express his feelings about Albus. But before Kurt could change the conversation Rachel said what's on her mind once again.

"I'm thinking of asking him out, you know. Just before prom too."

That was nearly the last straw for Kurt. He was the one who actually wanted to genuinely get to know him, while Rachel just wanted to use him as a boy toy for prom. Ok, maybe it was a _little_ more than that but he wasn't going to be obvious like Rachel. He suspected it from the beginning of the trip, and now Rachel had confirmed his thoughts.

But now he needed a plan. A plan to make sure Rachel wouldn't ask him out soon so that Rachel wouldn't be engulfed in the tsunami of a person called Albus. And what a special tsunami it was. Until he devised something, Kurt thought it was best to act nonchalant for now and act like it was no problem.

Kurt faced Rachel and faked his reaction. "Oh really? That's nice! You 2 would make a very cute couple. Then you could run for prom king and queen as well."

"You're okay with this? I mean, do you think it's a smart thing to do? I mean I've only known him for a few days, but those few days have proven a lot. I also think he would be a way better boyfriend then Finn ever was."

_Proven a lot of what? A lot of nothing,_ Kurt thought. Kurt just smiled through his teeth though. "Yeah go ahead. But I think you should wait a few days. You don't want to rush things like this though."

"Kurt, thank you so much. You are the best person for advice like this and I know that you know what's best."

"No problem," Kurt said as Albus came out of the change room in new attire. This time he was wearing a white sweater and black denim pants. Of course he looked stunning again.

"Is this…" Albus began.

"Take it. Take all of it. Those clothes suit you exceptionally so I think we should move on to different stores. Perhaps Hollister or a sports wear place."

Albus smiled. "Thanks guys for everything. I'll go change now." Albus once again headed to the change room.

Rachel sighed and looked at Kurt. "He's going to be the sweetest boyfriend ever."

Kurt tried not to grimace back as he replied. "You are going to be one lucky girl."

_If only you won't be swept off your feet by another someone else you adore_, Kurt thought as he formulated ideas and came up with the perfect one.

_Not on my watch._


	19. Blondes and Unicorns

**Well guess what? I have Word again and now I'm ready to write this story. Sorry for not uploading a chapter in over a month. I was busy with homework (I honestly thought this semester would be easier for me but it involves a lot of writing and projects) and then my computer broke down during spring break which was when I was planning to write a few chapters.**

**So this chapter is kind of longer than expected, but it's okay since you've be deprived for a month. And it was kind of hard for me to write because of many reasons but whatever.**

**Once again I'll try my best to update a bit more often (hopefully not once a month) and thank you for all the alerts and favourites! I never though I would have over 100 people care about this but anything is possible.**

**You are the only strangers I will ever somewhat love!**

Blondes and Unicorns

The car ride back to Brittany's house was mostly silent, but Albus was thankful that it was like that. There seemed to be some tension between Rachel and Kurt, but Albus just assumed it was nothing serious. They finally pulled up onto the driveway of Brittany's house, and Kurt parked the car and opened the trunk to retrieve the shopping bags.

Albus hopped out of the car and grabbed some bags. "Do American's normally buy this much stuff when shopping? How much did it…"

"Precisely $623.52," Kurt replied, pretty much reading Albus' mind. "Most of that coming from MY credit card," he said as he glared at Rachel.

"Well, you offered to buy most of the stuff. I would have paid for some of it if you let me, you know. I even chose all the clothes for him!" Rachel retorted back.

"Rachel, let's not argue unnecessarily," Kurt said as he took the remaining 5 bags and swung the trunk shut. "I mean I probably won't be able to shop for the next few months, but my wardrobe has been recently refreshed so there's no need to fret about my money. In fact you should be glad that I was generous enough to buy all this stuff for Albus." He turned and smiled at Albus.

Albus felt like this was his queue to say something. "Erm, yeah, thanks for all this Kurt. And Rachel," he added hastily. "You really didn't have to."

"Actually I did have to," Kurt said as they walked up to the door of Brittany's house and rang the doorbell. Brittany immediately opened the door and smiled happily at them.

"Hi guys. How was shopping?" she asked enthusiastically. She gestured them into the house.

"Wonderful!" Rachel told her. "We spent…"

"Actually, I spent $623.52 all on clothes for Albus," Kurt said to Brittany. Rachel gave him an annoyed look.

"Wow…that's great," Brittany said looking at Albus. "You should try on all the clothes for me later."

"Nah, I'm done with trying on clothes. It's actually pretty tiring," Albus said to her.

"And since you sound tired, I guess we should be heading off," Kurt told Brittany and Albus dropping his bags on the ground. Rachel did the same. "Thanks for letting me…"

"Us," Rachel interrupted.

Kurt ignored her. "…buy you a whole new wardrobe. It was an absolute blast!"

"Thanks again," Albus told them and awkwardly waved his hand. "See you tomorrow."

Kurt headed towards the door and opened it. However, Rachel stood in place and stared at him at him perplexed. "Rachel?" Albus asked. "Are you…"

"You didn't say good bye to me," Rachel pouted a little. Albus saw Kurt biting his lip, and looking a bit irritated.

"Oh, that was for both of you," Albus said wondering why she was acting like that.

"It seemed more directed at Kurt though," Rachel stated and look him in the eye.

"Okay, how about this. Goodbye Rachel, thanks for all your help. You are awesome and actually have great taste in clothes. I would probably still look like an idiot if it weren't for you," Albus said to her. She smiled and blushed at little.

"Thanks," she said and approached him. She threw her arms around him and Albus froze. Was she really hugging him? Still a little shocked he wrapped his arms around her and briefly patted her on the back. Though the corner of his eye, he saw Kurt standing in the doorway looking irked and…wait was he mildly jealous too? Of what though? Albus let go of Rachel and smiled at her. She looked very elated and turned to Kurt at the doorway, who didn't look annoyed any more.

"Let's get going, shall we? Don't want to keep him up all night," Kurt said as Rachel stepped out of the house. Brittany quickly waved and they waved back. "Bye guys," Kurt said and before Rachel could say anything back the door closed with a thud.

"Well that was kind of strange," Albus said to Brittany and she shrugged.

"Are hugs like illegal in England or something?"

"No…it's just, well Rachel and Kurt can be kind of crazy sometimes," Albus said pondering what just happened.

"She hugged you. That's not exactly crazy. Crazy is when you're about to watch your favourite TV show and you're totally prepared and you know it's on today, but for some reason it isn't on. Instead it's like the news saying that this evil guy who lives in a cave and probably hasn't shaved in years was killed by US troops or something," Brittany stated. Albus looked at her blankly. "Well that's what happened to me today," she told him.

"I mean, Rachel and Kurt are nice and all, but Kurt sometimes acts strange or flustered around me. And Rachel always wants to be by my side. Like every day."

"Well Kurt obviously is flustered by you because he's a unicorn and Rachel must really like you."

Albus stared at her incredulously, not sure what she meant by unicorn, or how Kurt was a unicorn, and wondering if Rachel did really like him.

"So, you think Rachel likes me, likes me?" he asked Brittany, not feeling entirely confident about himself. "I've hardly done anything to make her like me. Then again she's always absolutely thrilled around me and smiles at me a lot." Albus started to wonder if that Rachel wanted to go out with him. He definitely wasn't interested in going out with anyone in Lima yet, he only knew them for a week! He hadn't even gone out with anyone at Hogwarts, he was a little too shy and more of the girls were more interested in James. _Here I go again, reminding myself that James was always superior to me and that I was almost a nobody_, Albus thought. The thought of James made him uncomfortable and sad once again, but this time he quickly emptied his mind and turned to look a Brittany.

Brittany nodded absentmindedly and headed up the staircase. "Figures. Listen, I'm heading off to bed now. "

"Now? It's only 10pm. Don't you usually go to bed after midnight?"

"Well, yes but today I just want to go to sleep earlier."

"Okay, I guess I'll get ready too. But can you help me carry these bags up to my room first? I don't have 4 hands you know."

She smiled at him. "Of course."

After dragging almost 20 different bags up the stairs into his room, Albus plopped down on his bed. He thanked Brittany and she headed off to the shower. Albus stared at the mess of stuff. The entire bedroom floor was now like an ocean of plastic and paper bags, mixed with a few of his old clothes. In his old bedroom, he shared it with James, who was quite messy. However, Albus was somewhat neater so each half of the room was completely different. James' half would be strewn with clothes, robes, and supplies all over the floor, as well as the bed sheets would never be made. Albus normally made his bed sheets and put his clothes in the drawer, though occasionally he would forget or act too lazy to do anything. Since he came here though, he didn't care anymore. He knew that he would have to clean up sometime, but for now, he was just going to procrastinate and do it another day.

Overwhelmed by all the clothes he had to sort through sometime, Albus turned to the homework on his bed. He sighed as he looked at it. He knew he needed to do it, but he couldn't push himself to even touch it. The past week had been stressful school wise, because he didn't understand anything and whenever he asked someone about what was going on, they weren't very good at explaining and didn't have time to explain. And Brittany wasn't helpful either, since she never did any homework and was barely passing school. The only subjects he could vaguely understand were History and English, since history was just talking about the American Muggles and how they found America, while in English they were just reading a book and discussing it. Chemistry and Mathematics was hopeless for him. He wished that he could just go back to Hogwarts and learn something useful like Protection charms, defence spells or even how to brew potions.

_But this stuff is useful for Muggles, and since I can't use magic, I should learn this,_ Albus thought sadly. But not today. Shopping had exhausted him and he was ready to fall asleep. After throwing the homework on the ground, he lay down on the soft bed, shut his eyes and within seconds the darkness welcomed him.

However, after what felt like a few minutes, he was awoken abruptly with a jolt. He heard a loud thud and immediately opened his eyes. He rolled over onto his side and turned on the nearby lamp and saw Brittany lying in the middle of the room, looking dazed and a bit scared.

"Brittany what are you doing in here? Aren't you asleep yet?" Albus exclaimed hoarsely.

"I was," she said looking at him. "I-I woke up though."

Albus glanced at the alarm clock across the room. The time was 2:30 am. He groaned. "But what are you doing in my room this late?"

"I," Brittany started. She bit her lip and carelessly looked around. "Please don't tell anyone this, but I sometimes sleepwalk. Usually when I have nightmares."

Albus got out of his bed and yawned unconsciously. He gazed at her curiously and said, "So you were having a nightmare?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry for waking you up. I promise I won't do it again." Her blue eyes widened as she got up and arranged the bags that she tripped over.

"You can't promise to not have nightmares," Albus gently told her.

She simply looked at him. "But I can promise to lock my room door next time."

"That would help," he said a little amused.

Brittany briefly paced around the room and turned her focus back to Albus. "I don't think I can go back to sleep now. The nightmare I had was really scary." She walked around the bags again and nervously looked at him, suddenly all excited. "Do you think you could tell me a story? My parents used to tell me stories before I went to bed. They told stories about pigs, frogs and princesses and knights who would save them. Save the princesses, not the pigs and frogs."

Albus stared dumbfounded. A story? He wasn't much of a story teller at all, and he didn't know what he could talk about. He didn't know any Muggle stories or 'fairy tales' as they were called, to tell.

"But I don't know any stories," Albus said, trying not to disappoint her.

"Yes you do. Don't you have wizard stories? I'm sure you do."

Albus' heart sank. He knew Brittany still believed he was a wizard (even though that was the truth), even though no one else did. But that wasn't the reason he didn't feel like telling 'wizard stories'. It was just too painful for him to talk about his family, Hogwarts and school. He had done so a few times since he arrived, but even though he put on a smile and a good composure, deep down it wrenched at his heart and made him feel uncomfortable.

"Well, I do, but I don't want to talk about it…" Albus finally told her.

"Look, I know you miss your family and I bet you miss all the awesome wizard stuff, but my mom told me that sometimes by talking about your feelings, it makes you feel better," Brittany said, almost reading his mind.

Albus hesitated. Should he tell her a story? Some of the stuff that happened at Hogwarts weren't that happy and magical, and some were actually kind of scary. Like the one time a dangerous and powerful Scottish Spineback dragon had escaped from its owners hand's and was on the loose throughout the UK. For an entire week, no one was allowed to go outside, so all Quidditch practices were cancelled and all activities had to been done indoors. Everyone, including the professors, were very frightened and once the dragon was captured by the entire Magical Creature Enforcement squad, everyone was breathing a little easier. He couldn't tell her that obviously.

Albus groggily racked up happy or funny stories in his head. His life was quite dull and boring, compared to his father's, but he knew Brittany wouldn't think so. Then something clicked. The perfect story. He knew Brittany would like this one. But was he okay with sharing stories? He really didn't want to, but he knew Brittany was right, talking about what he missed most with someone would make him happier and release all the emotions he was holding back.

"You don't have to tell me a story, if you don't want to," Brittany whispered. "I'll just head on back…"

"No, your right Brittany. I should tell you a story about the wizarding world. There's so much crap I'm holding back from you and everyone else, it's not allowing me to be myself fully. And I know you're the only person who would actually believe and listen to me, so I, Albus Potter, will tell you, Brittany Pierce, a story about magic at precisely 2:35am in the morning," he said as triumphantly and cheesily as he could in a loud whisper.

Brittany giggled at that then walked to him and sat down on the bed beside him. "So you are finally admitting you're a wizard? I knew you would come around."

"I guess I am," Albus said smiling. "So do you want to hear the story or not?"

"Of course! What's it about?"

"Unicorns."

She gasped a little. "You have actually met a unicorn?"

"Yep. At my magic school, called Hogwarts, there is this class called Care of Magical Creatures, and in that class we get to meet all sorts of creatures. Like hippogriffs, thestrals, flobberworms and unicorns."

"That is one of my dreams. To meet a unicorn, adopt him and call him Alfred. So what happened in this story about unicorns?"

So he told her the story. In year 3, in a Care of Magical Creatures class, they were shown a unicorn for the first time ever. However his class that day was combined with the year 4's as well (because the 2 unicorns were brought in all the way from France just for a couple days) so his brother was there too. While the professor (who Albus forgot the name of since he hadn't seen her since that year)was blabbing on about the magical properties of unicorns while they were standing in the nearby musty forest, Albus noticed that his brother had disappeared from the group. Albus ignored it at first, and thought he just left to go to the washroom or something. The next thing he knew was that he heard a scream and everyone awoke from their stupor and saw James sitting on top of one of the unicorns, telling it to move. The professor was furious, and told him to get down from it immediately (for it wasn't safe), before it took off. James just laughed and pulled on the silvery mane of it. At that point, Brittany gasped and asked why sitting on a unicorn wasn't okay.

"Aren't they just like horses? With horns?"

"No they are much more vicious, especially the wild ones, and…" Albus started. He was going to say they could kill humans with a stab of their horn, but he decided to leave that out. "… they move very fast so it would be hard to catch him if it took off. They just like to do their own thing."

"So what happened?"

So Albus continued and told how the unicorn sped off towards the water leaving the forest and crossing a nearby grassy meadow, with his brother, struggling to control it. Everyone was scared and rushing after him and the unicorn. Albus remember how much he panicked that day, and he was worried that his brother was going to get seriously hurt.

"I thought this was a happy story?" Brittany asked quizzically.

"No it is, just be patient."

Finally the unicorn decided to stop for some reason. The professor was yelling for James to get off immediately and James got off. However he stayed by the unicorn, for the unicorn was not budging and moving its hooves.

"I think its hurt," James yelled at them.

The professor told him to ignore the unicorn and get away from it. But James didn't move. Instead he took out his wand and walked around the unicorn, and saw that it had broken its ankle while galloping.

"It's ankles broken. I think it tripped over a root or…"

"GET BACK NOW POTTER," the professor screamed. "UNICORNS ARE INTELLIGENT CREATURES. IT COULD BE TRICKING YOU…"

"NO," James yelled and gentled lifted the unicorns hoof. All the third and fourth years were in awe and Albus though James was acting crazy. Albus watched as James tapped his wand against the unicorn's ankle and murmured a spell. Shortly afterwards James got up and petted the unicorns nose, and the unicorn rubbed its face on James. Wild unicorns rarely showed affection towards people, so this was a very special moment for James. Everyone eyed the scene in amazement, while the professor growled and muttered to herself.

"Bloody Potter, thinks he's a unicorn whisperer…"

James and the unicorn made their way back to the pack of children and all the students grouped around James, saying how brave he was to do that. At least 3 girls, brushed up beside him and flirted with him and flooded him with compliments. During this whole time James looked embarrassed, yet proud of himself. Albus admired his brother for that moment, wishing he could be like that. He was proud of his brother, something that happened so rarely, since most of the time he was jealous of him.

"That's so sweet," Brittany gushed. "I though you said unicorns were mean and vicious."

"Well James healed that one, so I guess it decided to be nice to him," Albus shrugged. He felt a lot better now. However he still didn't feel like going to back to sleep.

"That's amazing. Now I really want to meet a unicorn," Brittany murmured. "But since you told an awesome story, I feel like I should tell you a story about what happens here. There aren't any unicorns though."

Albus lay back on his bed and put his arms up behind his head. "Go ahead. I'm not really that tired so tell all the stories you want."

So Brittany told him a story. Then another one. And another one. And Albus listened as well as commented when it was appropriate. He couldn't help but laugh at some of the stories she told, like the different ways her cheerleading coach tried to destroy the glee club or the crazy things Rachel did. He ogled at some of them too, like how Quinn the blonde girl in the glee club got pregnant and how Brittany dated Kurt for a few days (she said she broke up with him because they clashed like some of the clothes Rachel used to wear). Albus decided to tell more stories too and the two of them went on talking in the middle of the night for a very long time. He was beginning to feel close to her, closer to her than anyone else he had met here in the past 2 weeks.

Finally they stopped. Albus looked at the time. It was almost 4:30am.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever talked to someone this long before," Albus said aloud.

"I have. With Santana. But never with a guy before," Brittany responded.

"It's just, I don't know, so easy to talk to you."

Brittany looked at him and nodded. "And when I talk to you, I know you're actually listening. And you don't treat me like an idiot either. Plus, you're extremely mysterious."

The two of them stared at each other. Albus couldn't help but smile again. She was very pretty. Her blonde curls fell across her shoulders and her blue eyes sparkled. Before he even knew it, Brittany got up on her knees on the bed and leaned forward. They were only inches apart now and Albus could smell her fruity shampoo surrounding him. She gently touched his lips to hers and Albus couldn't help but kiss her back.

The kiss deepened and Albus wasn't sure how long they were kissing for. She was almost on top of him and he could feel her hands on his chest. But it didn't matter though. Until he realized that what he was doing wasn't right.

Albus abruptly stopped and opened his eyes. She stared at him puzzled.

"Artie. You're dating Artie. We shouldn't be doing this," Albus whispered. But deep down, he wished that he was still kissing her.

"Oh. Yeah," she said awkwardly and sat up right next to him again. "I'm sorry. I…"

"It's okay. Just maybe we shouldn't do it again," Albus said as his heart plummented.

Brittany stared off distantly and replied, "Yeah I guess you're right. But can I ask you one thing?"

"What?"

"Is it okay if I sleep with you tonight?"

"Uh…WHAT?" Albus exclaimed. "I thought…"

"No not like that. Just next to you. Because I feel like if I sleep next to you, I won't have any more nightmares until I wake up."

Albus slowly nodded. "Well if you feel like that would help…"

"Just this one night? Please?" she begged.

"Sure. Just stay on your side of the bed," Albus said in a daze. He had never shared a bed with a girl before. Because if anyone did that in Hogwarts, they would be expelled.

Brittany got under the covers and Albus offed the light before getting under the covers as well. He tried his best not to touch her but within a few minutes, Brittany was fast asleep and her head fell against his shoulder.

_Wow I can't believe this is happening. I can't even believe I'm letting this happen,_ Albus thought. He was a little sad inside because he knew that he couldn't date her even if he desperately wanted to all of a sudden. He rather be with her than Rachel! But he knew that no one else would be able to have this moment with her. And it soothed him.

Albus closed his eyes and decided that he should fall asleep too. It would be another few hours before he would have to wake up for school. He needed some sleep before then.

And for the first time that night, Albus didn't have a dreamless night, or one full of nightmares of not getting back home.

For the first time, he felt truly happy to be here and one step closer to finding whatever destiny lay before him.


	20. Jealous Schemes

**3 months. Wow. It's been awhile. Way longer than I though.**

**Really sorry guys. Honestly don't expect me to update every week anymore. Just expect me to finish the story someday okay? I WILL FINISH IT. I actually like this story a lot and I know where I'm going with it so I'm not going to leave it blank ended.**

**I bet you've forgotten what has happened. I've almost forgotten what has happened. I never though it would be this hard to write a story. I guess it's hard if your a busy person who is not really a writer and has bad luck with technology.**

** I'm going away soon for 2 weeks then going to camp for another so don't expect any updates till August. Maybe one this week, but most likely not.**

**Thank you though to all those who stuck with this story through my inconsistent times. Apologizes again.**

****Anyway, enough blabbering. Here's the next chapter.****

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><p>Jealous Scheming<p>

Kurt slammed the door of Brittany's house as soon as Rachel stepped out of it. His mind was swirling with angry and annoyed thoughts. Was it really necessary for Rachel to act all needy so she could get a hug from Albus? Kurt swiftly turned away from the house and headed towards the car, taking big breaths. Rachel trotted behind him a little dazed and confused.

"Kurt? Are you okay? You seem a little anno…"

"I'm not annoyed," Kurt abruptly said, pausing as he opened the car door while Rachel gave him a 'Be honest with me' look. "Okay, I'm a little annoyed but I just want to get back home before ten or else my dad will get annoyed. And it's 10:05 already." What a lame reason. But I don't want to be 100% honest right now.

The two of them slide into the car and Kurt turned on the engine. He grasped the wheel firmly trying to clear his mind of all thoughts relating to Albus and Rachel. However Rachel spoke up immediately.

"Do you think it would be okay if I asked Albus to prom this week?"

Kurt froze for a second. His mind was shouting; _'NO IT'S NO OKAY. STOP THINKING ABOUT YOURSELF, YOU DON'T DESERVE HIM, AND YOU'RE TRYING TOO HARD. STOP BEING DESPERATE.' _But he just bit his tongue and tried to give her a reasonable answer.

"Don't you think you're rushing it?" Kurt said calmly. "I mean you've only known him for less than a week, you can't just ask a guy out after a week."

"Well I'd say we're pretty good friends. Not close buddies or anything, but…"

"No," Kurt interrupted. "Before I dated Blaine, we were friends for almost 6 months. Did you hear me? 6 months! One week isn't going to cut it." _But that's only because I was friendzoned by him for that long._

"Well, all relationships differ," Rachel said hesitantly. "And I think it will be okay to ask him out soon. We hugged okay. That's like the gateway action to a good relationship."

"And Marijuana is the gateway drug to cocaine and heroin which can kill you," Kurt muttered out loud as he started to back off the driveway. Rachel gave him a puzzled look and Kurt sighed. "Look I just want you to make a smart choice and maybe actually get to know him genuinely instead of being flirty and not acting like yourself."

Rachel looked blankly at him for a second then smiled coolly. "Fine. I promise you on this lovely Thursday evening…err nighttime now I guess, that in exactly one week I will genuinely get to know Albus and ask him out to prom as well. Deal?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Why are you saying deal? I didn't make a deal with you. There is no deal for this."

"Well you seem to be very doubtful that I will be able to do this."

"I am acting doubtful and skeptical because if you look over your relationships the past 2 years, they are either a) non-existent b) shorter than a James Cameron movie or c) Finn."

"I'm pretty sure Albus is different from them," Rachel said and there was a brief moment of silence. "I thought you were supportive of this idea. Why are you changing your mind all of a sudden? A few hours ago you said we would be cute together. "

"And I also remember saying 'Don't rush things'." There was another awkward silence as they pulled up to a red light. "I am okay…with this by the way. I'll be supportive." _No I'm not. I don't want Albus to be taken. I want him for myself._

"Alright if you're supportive, start giving me tips and act like a friend who wants their friend to be in a relationship with someone they really like."

A third silence ensued. This one was longer than the previous two. Kurt looked ahead, waiting for the light to turn green. _Wow there are way too many pauses in this conversation right now_, Kurt thought. _Can't Rachel just break the silence so I won't have to give her advice on how to approach Albus?_

As if she read his mind, Rachel spoke up. "Or-or maybe your acting this way now because you like Albus as well and are jealous of me too."

Kurt's eyes widen and he accidently shifted his foot to the gas pedal. He slammed on it with sudden fury and shock and the car zoomed forward, through the red light. Rachel yelped as the car quickly accelerated along the road, squealing. It took a few seconds for Kurt to focus and realize he was going briefly over the speed limit as well. Kurt gasped and hit the brakes immediately but not quickly enough, as the car crashed into a small 'No Parking' sign. There was a loud thud as the sign fell across the top of the car, narrowly avoiding the window.

Kurt stared blankly ahead drawing in sharp breathes. He couldn't believe what had just happened

_Holy crap holy crap holy crap I just ran a red light and possibly dented my dad's car. All because of…_

But his thoughts were interrupted when Rachel grabbed his arm.

"WHAT. THE HELL. WAS. . HUMMEL?" she said loudly while hissing his name at the end.

"I…I don't…" Kurt stammered.

"YOU COULD HAVE KILLED US!" Rachel screamed.

Kurt looked straight ahead at the 'No Parking' sign on the car again, trying not to look at Rachel. "Well instead of looking the negatives of this situation, let's look at the positives. We didn't die. There's no one on this street currently who saw what happened. Well if you don't include the couple cars driving by on the far side of that street; they would have stopped if they cared at all. And there was no camera's that could have caught me going through a red light. We just need to…"

"I can't believe you are acting so calm about this Kurt. You just sped through a red light and…"

"And hit a no parking sign. And no one saw. Technically," Kurt replied. He was amazed at how frightfully calm he was.

Silence crept up on them once more. _Why is this happening_, Kurt thought exasperatedly. He got them into a minor accident all because he didn't want to admit that he liked Albus. He didn't want Rachel to get into his mind and dislike him for acting this way. It could ruin their friendship which was already a bit unsteady during this car ride.

It wasn't his fault that Albus was an attractive English human being, and that they both were crushing on the same guy. But he didn't want to admit what he was doing was wrong, and could make him a cheater if he started to act on his thoughts.

Kurt cleared his throat. "I-I'm just going to remove this sign off the car. I most likely won't get ticketed. Unless someone comes barging in and decides to act like an asshole for no reason at all," Kurt half laughed while Rachel silently nodded, and he quickly slid out the door.

Normally, Kurt loved the area where Rachel lived. It was a wealthy neighbourhood, full of middle to upper class people who had a good sense in fashion that he appreciated genuinely.  
>Today, he cursed the fact that it was on the opposite side of Lima from where they were, which took a good 20 minutes to get there.<p>

After fixing the no parking sign back into the ground, (which, thankfully was a temporary one so it just took a lot of jumping and jamming it back into the grass) and checking the car for any major damage (the was only 2 small quarter sized dents on the hood, and his dad was a mechanic so he obviously knew almost everything about cars), Kurt hopped back in the car and was eager to drive Rachel back home in record time.

For the first 15 minutes, there was silence again. Kurt tried to use this silence to clear his mind of Albus and the somewhat stupid accident and focus on the road, but he just couldn't.

Just as he though he cleared his mind, Rachel spoke up softly.

"I just want to say I'm sorry that I though you liked Albus. Don't deny that that's the reason why you almost killed us by doing through that red light.

"I was nowhere near killing us, okay can you drop that?" Kurt paused letting what she said sink in.

_Wait, so she thinks that I freaked out because I was appalled at the fact that I would like Albus. But why? Oh, yeah I guess cause I have a boyfriend who I've been waiting for my whole life who is perfect and who I'm supposed to devote all my love to. Right._

Kurt continued. "But…yes. I don't-that right- don't like Albus like that one bit. Blaine is just a little more perfect than him. Wait, I take that back, he would be perfect if he had Albus' accent. Now that would be the perfect man."

Rachel smiled and Kurt was relieved that he broke the tension between them. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Okay, well now that that's settled, do you think that you can give me some tips on how to have the 'perfect' relationship with the 'perfect' man? And obviously I mean Albus."

His heart sank a little_. Oh dear. Just when I thought she would forget about this Albus business._

He needed a plan. A plan that would steer Rachel away from him so that Albus would still be free and available.

Then he remembered. He remembered what he was planning before in the shopping mall. The somewhat genius plan to steer Rachel away from snagging Albus for herself. And before prom.

Kurt quickly glanced at her and was about to speak when he saw the street Rachel lived on. He saw Rachel's house, the first one on the street. He turned and pulled over in front of her house and put the car into park.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "So… what are some tips. Or are you going to act like a terrible friend again and doubt that I can do this?"

"First, let me just apologize for being a terrible friend before. I was just being honest about not rushing it and how all your relationships are pretty unsuccessful. Second, you want to get Albus to like you for who you are. So don't be something you're not. Don't be fake. Thirdly, don't be aggressive. Or overly desperate. I remember when you were pining after Finn, oh god, that's not how you go after someone. And here's the final tip." Kurt waited a few seconds, to see if she would ask about it.

"What is it?"

"Make sure you always know that you never tell a guy that you like them. Because it makes you look like an idiot." And with that Kurt smiled mischievously as Rachel got out of the car, more puzzled than ever.

* * *

><p>"<em>Hello, this is who I think it is right?"<em>

_"And this is who I think it is as well? That really gay guy with horrible clothes who Rachel likes to drag everywhere with her these days?"_

_"Ha ha, aren't you funny. Definitely the more intelligible person I've ever had the pleasure of meeting."_

_"What do you want Kurt?"_

_"I need you to do me a favour. I want you come to McKinley and try to win Rachel over."_

_"Isn't she with the giant zombie though?"_

_"Wow you guys definitely keep in touch well."_

_"I haven't talked to her since last year. Been pursuing my dreams to be the most talented performer to ever walk the face of the earth."_

_"And how is that going?"_

_"Not too well, but only because they don't understand what you need to become a performer."_

_"I see. Well here's the plan, I want you to sneak into the auditorium tomorrow at precisely 12:00pm and use that mediocre voice of yours to woo her while she's practicing a song option for prom."_

_"Mediocre voice. Do I have to remind you who won…"_

_"No you don't. Okay above average voice then."_

_"And are you sure she's going to be there?"_

_"Positive. It was one of the many topics we discussed this evening while shopping. She also singing that Adele song Rolling in the Deep. She's been obsessed with her lately. Do you know…?"_

_"Duh. You really think I'm an idiot do you?"_

_"No, just making sure. So will you?"_

_"Well my love life hasn't been going so well and Rachel definitely was one of the brighter points in my life."_

_"Yeah sure. But really, you're the only one who I can think can change her mind about someone. Well other than my step-brother but I'm not going there. He's could spill the beans, knowing him. "_

_"The awkward giant is your brother?"_

_"Yes, he's my brother now."_

_"Congrats. If he was my brother, what a disgrace he would be."_

_"So will you?"_

_"Yeah sure. I've got nothing better to do."_

_"Thank you so much. How will I ever repay you?"_

_"Let me be a mentor in your terrible show choir group of yours?"_

_"Oh God no. I'm honestly not interested in seeing your snob face teaching us."_

_"I do have legit training now you know."_

_"Just make Rachel fall in love with you again. Don't question me."_

_"Okay I will. I'll try. But I don't know what damage has been done by that step brother of yours."_

_"You don't want to know their problems."_

_"One quick question though? If you hate me so much, why do you even have my number?"_

_"I stuck Rachel's phone away to see if she still has your number and she does. And I used it. "_

_"Wow. So I've taught you well."_

_"You didn't teach me anything. I was already a ninja before I left the womb."_

_"I bet you were. Anyway, if she still has my number, this might be easier than I thought. I guess I'm too beautiful to let go of completely."_

_"12:00pm sharp. Auditorium. Don't be late."_

_"Calm down, I'll be on time."_

_"You better."_

_"Well nice talking to you gayface."_

_"Kurt."_

_"I know but gayface suits you better."_

_"Love you too Jesse. Jesse St. Jerk."_


	21. Secret

**Okay. Sorry. No more promises about when I'm updating. I promise...**

**Anyway, here's the next chapter. I noticed that I've lost a lot of followers probably cause I haven't be faithful at updating. **

**I'm terrible person. But it's because I've been busy and not really inspired by things.**

**Remember I'm not someone who's that passionate about writing, so this is what you kind of get.**

**Yeah, so please review, follow or favourite (or all three) and enjoy.**

**Just expect me to finish the story. DON'T UNFOLLOW PLEASE, I WILL FINISH THIS AND IT WILL GET EXCITING I PROMISE.**

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><p>Secret<p>

"I love you Brittany, more than anyone else."

Santana spoke these words calmly while Brittany stared back speechless. They were in the choir room, which was empty at the moment, other than the piano player. Santana had just sang the song "Songbird" for her and no one else, and had declared her love for her. Brittany smiled back at her; full of love for her too, but there was something holding her back.

"Listen Brittany. I want to be with you. More than anything."

"But aren't we already together all the time?" Brittany asked puzzled.

"No not like that, I want to date you."

"Oh," was all Brittany could say back. She was a little surprised, but she sensed something was up with Santana.

"I know that I'm not out of the closet like Mr. McGay Pants Kurt, but I can't do this alone. I need you Brits, and if I'm with you I promise I won't hide my love anymore," Santana said wholeheartedly.

"Well, I love you a lot to but I'm dating Artie right now. You can't just date 2 people. Isn't it a crime or something?" Brittany questioned. She nervously thought back to the previous night with Albus. How he said it wasn't right to kiss him while she was dating Artie.

"Well then break up with him. Simple as that," Santana said crossing her arms.

"Santana, I can't just break up with him. I love him too," Brittany pleaded.

"Well," Santana started, grabbing her bag and placing it over her shoulder, "I'm afraid you have to choose me or him. But it will be easier for the both of us if you just choose me over him." She turned her head and quietly exited the choir room not looking back.

Brittany sighed. She loved Santana more than anyone else here at the school, but she just didn't feel like dating her. But she couldn't just ignore Santana. What if she never talked to her again because she turned her down? Brittany couldn't bear not to ever talk to Santana again.

But then there was Artie. She didn't want to cheat on him. He already thought he cheated on her once (with Mike Chang even though nothing ever happened between them), and Brittany felt so guilty.

But to top it all off, there was Albus. Last night when they kissed, something just clicked. It just seemed so right to her. The whole incident that happened that night felt right. However, Albus had to remind her that she was dating Artie, which killed the moment. She didn't want to be a cheater, so she had to stop. But Brittany still couldn't get her mind off him.

More confused than ever (which was saying something because she always felt confused), Brittany picked up her stuff and headed into the hallway. She looked around for any familiar faces and saw Santana talking to Dave Karofsky. At that moment, she remembered something.

_Wait, isn't Santana with Karofsky for prom? I can't date Santana if she with him. That's cheating right? _Brittany thought. That changed everything. She closed her eyes for a second, trying to clear her mind of things. Her brain hurt from all this thinking and she just needed to start fresh for the rest of the day.

"Hey baby," a voice said from behind her. Brittany turned and looked around.

"Who's there?" she said scanning the hallway.

"Looks down Britts."

She gazed down to see Artie almost at her feet. "Oh hey Artie! Sorry, I didn't see you," Brittany said sheepishly.

"Again," Artie replied shrugging.

"Sorry," Brittany whispered.

"I forgive you. So do you have any plans tonight?"

Brittany closed her eyes for a second again. As much as she loved Artie, she couldn't let this get out of hand. Her feelings for Albus and Santana were stronger than her feelings for Artie. So she would have to act upon those feelings and that meant breaking up with Artie.

"Um can we talk in private for a second?" Brittany asked.

"Yeah sure." Artie wheeled his chair to a more remote area of the hallway and Brittany followed. "So what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong Artie. It's just we need to talk about something."

"No something is wrong. I can tell. Don't lie Brit."

"We need to break up."

Artie's eyes widened and his jaw dropped a little. "W-what? You can't be serious. I wasn't expecting that. Am I not good enough? Is there someone else?" Artie questioned ferociously.

Brittany paused for a second. "No there's no one else," she lied. "And you're great and amazing but I just…"

"Just what?"

"I just feel like we aren't as close lately. Your unicorn sparkle is wearing off," Brittany told him. That really wasn't true but she needed to make up something to cover up the truth. That her heart was with someone else.

"Unicorn Sparkle? What are you talking about? Brittany just tell the truth," Artie pleaded with her.

Brittany bit her lip and sadly looked at him. "You wouldn't understand."

Turning around as fast as she could, Brittany walked away. He heard him call her name again, but she ignored it. Her head was hurting again, but somehow her heart didn't ache as much. She felt as if a rope had just loosened up around her next and it was a little easier to breathe. Yet, she just felt really guilty for breaking Artie's heart. She felt cruel and heartless but she didn't want to end up being a cheater and hurt him in a worst way.

As she was walking down the hall again she saw Albus standing at his locker fumbling with his lock as usual.

Albus. Now there was someone she rather be with. She bit her lip again, nervously and glanced at Santana who was still talking to Karofsky. She still didn't fully understand why she was with Karofsky. She remembered Santana said something about a 'beard' but Karofsky didn't have a beard. In fact, he was nowhere near having one.

_Maybe she's dating him because if she dates him, he will grow a beard. He probably wants one badly. Actually he really needs one badly_, Brittany though. _Yeah, that makes a lot more sense._

Satisfied with her assumptions, she walked a little more confidently towards Albus. Okay Santana loved her, but she was going to do the right thing, and right now, the right thing was going out with Albus.

* * *

><p>Albus was currently fumbling with his locker. He was starting to loathe lockers. They never seemed to open when he tried to open them. <em>Alohomora<em> would be very useful right now. Frustrated, he viciously grabbed his lock and to his surprise it opened. He sighed and looked around the hall and saw that Brittany was approaching him quickly.

"Hey Albus," Brittany said with a large grin on her face.

He smiled back, "Hey Britt. What's up? You seem pretty happy"

"Oh yeah, I just broke up with Artie."

Albus' face fell for a second, confused. "Wait, you're happy that you just broke up with Artie? Why did you do that?"

"It wasn't working out between us," Brittany said. "Plus I kind of like you more than him."

Albus was stunned. His mind flashed back to last night when they kissed. He had to admit he really liked her too but he was just too surprised that someone that beautiful could be attracted to the awkward, slightly dumb, British newbie.

"You really do?" Albus spoke quietly, still in shock.

"I just don't kiss people I don't like," Brittany said smiling. "Okay, I kissed this super ugly mean kid sits in the back of most my classes, but that's the only exception."

"So," Brittany continued, "You won't mind going out with me?"

Albus stared dumbfounded at her. He still couldn't believe this was happening. But he thought of his other new friends. Kurt. And Rachel. Brittany said last night that Rachel liked him. The more he thought about it, the more he believed it. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he was definitely more interested in Brittany than her. He needed Rachel and Kurt's friendship or else he wouldn't be able to get through the rest of the year with feeling desperately lonely.

And wasn't it a bit suspicious that Brittany would date someone else so quickly after just breaking up with Artie? There had to be a way to get what they both wanted without hurting anyone else.

"Brittany, I would love to date you it's just…" Albus started.

"That's great-"

"No Brittany, listen for just a second. Can we keep this a secret? I really don't want anyone else to know about this right now. I'm afraid that some people might not like this, and I don't want to hurt them."

Brittany looked at him blankly for a second, than glanced over her shoulder across the hall. Albus tried to follow he gazed and he was pretty sure she was looking at Santana, who was talking to one of the 'jocks' (Kurt explained that term the other day and how anyone who wears red jackets is a 'jock'). Oh yeah he forgot about Santana. He was a little afraid of her straight up bitch attitude, and like she said, he didn't want to get on her bad side. Dating Brittany could get him on her bad side.

Brittany turned back to him with a bit of a nervous look, and spoke quietly to him. "That's actually a really smart idea. We definitely should date secretly. Starting right now."

Albus grinned. "That's great!" Just after he said that, Brittany leaned in too kiss him on the cheek but Albus quickly jerked back.

"Remember we're _secretly_ dating, Brittany," Albus trying to be serious even though he was extremely giddy. "So no kissing or embracing in public."

"Oh yeah, sorry Albus," Brittany said. "I guess we'll just have to save all the fun for later," she said winking at him. Albus' felt his stomach flip inside him.

"Y-yeah. Well I think I have to head off to class now," Albus told her. "I love you," he said as quietly as possible, making sure she was the only one who heard him.

"Love you too," she said quietly as well and smiling brilliantly at him. She bounced down the hallway and Albus watched her walk away until she turned the corner.

Girlfriend. She was his girlfriend. He never though he would have a girlfriend ever. But now he did. If only James could see him now. James would have definitely thought Brittany was a hot girl. Memories painfully flashed in his head.

_You're such a loser. No wonder why no girls like you. You will never have a girlfriend. It's because you…_

_SHUT THE FUCK UP, Albus screamed. THAT WASN'T ME, THAT WAS…_

_Oh really? It definitely looked different from what I saw._

_NO. YOU LIAR. YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT. YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TOLD THEM ANYTHING. NO ONE WANTS TO TALK TO ME. NO ONE EVEN LIKES ME ANYMORE._

_No one liked you in the first place Albus, James said coldly._

Albus breathed deeply. _No I have to shut that out of my mind. I can't think about that. That doesn't matter anymore. I have Brittany now_.

All that mattered was that James was wrong, and Brittany was his and no one else's.

* * *

><p><strong>Next chapter will be about Kurt and his plans to screw up Rachel's emotions about guys as well as Mr. Schuester's new assignment for the glee club that will be for Nationals.<strong>

**After that it's back to James and his journey in the mundane British Country side in search for Albus.**

**See I have this all planned out!**


	22. A Bright Speck

**Hey again. **

**So over the course of these last 4 weeks I've been thinking about the ending of this story and I decided to change the outcome slightly. I think you guys would find it more satisfying.**

**Obviously though you don't know what my original outcome was so you don't know how this will end still.**

**And for anyone who is wondering "Is this really a Albus/Kurt fanfic since Albus is with Brittany?" Be patient my young grasshoppers. This is_ mainly_ a Albus/Kurt fanfic but it's more than just 'I'm going to put these 2 together ASAP without any conflict and issues'. It's a story.**

**Anyway, hope you like this chapter is mostly Kurt/Rachel and Kurt/Albus and it may/may not be poorly written a bit and there may be grammatical issues since I didn't check it over cause I just wanted to update it. Forgive me.**

**PS I'll continue to try to update a bit more often it's just I'm really busy with life and I've had trouble being inspired to write. 1 month update is better than 3 months so I'm working on it.**

A Bright Speck

Kurt was at his locker, grabbing stuff for glee club and a class he had after that. He had trouble sleeping last night and, thus, was a bit tired. There was too much on his mind, mostly about Rachel, Jesse and Albus.

Kurt checked the time. 12:45. At any moment Rachel would be coming out of the auditorium where Jesse St. James hopefully swooned her and distracted her from any thoughts about asking Albus out.

Well that was his plan anyway.

Kurt stuffed a binder into his bargain designer handbag. Just as he shut his locker, someone tapped him on his back.

"Kurt. Oh my God. You cannot believe what just happened."

Kurt smugly shut his locker and turned around to Rachel who was in a state of shock, confusion and disbelief.

"What? You look really shaken up," Kurt said putting on an expression of concern.

"Jesse. Jesse St. James. Was here. In this building," Rachel said, wringing her hands and pacing away from Kurt.

"Hey wait up," Kurt yelled, shuffling towards her. "Why was he here? Shouldn't he be away in college or something?"

"He was at college but he was kicked out. I still can't believe that he was here," Rachel started to ramble. "I mean I was just practicing Rolling in the Deep which is my new favourite song at the moment, to perform at Prom possible and all of a sudden he appears almost out of nowhere and joins in and I didn't know what to even do but just keep singing? Is that normal? To just keep singing when your ex-boyfriend joins in from the middle of nowhere into the song your singing?"

"Uh…" was Kurt's reply. He couldn't think of anything better to say.

"Anyway, I'm just confused," Rachel said looking down at the floor. "He apologized for what he did and I forgave him and he seems a lot nicer and less stuck up than before. I … I might want him to go to prom with me."

Kurt, whose stomach was flipping with excitement from the fact that his plan worked, remained calm on the outside though.

"Really, are you sure about that?" he asked slyly. "I mean if you really want to you can go with him, but what about…"

"Albus, I know," Rachel interrupted. "I just need time to think about this. Albus is a great person too but… I've always had a special place in my heart for Jesse."

'Oh so that's why you still had his number on your phone,' Kurt muttered to himself under his breathe.

"What?" Rachel questioned.

"Oh um nothing Rachel," Kurt replied quickly. "Okay, listen," Kurt said gently grabbing her shoulders and turning her to face him. "I just want you to be happy and make the right decision. If going to prom with Jesse seems okay to you then do it. But don't you feel that you're just jumping from guy to guy at all. First Finn, then Albus and now Jesse again?"

Rachel hesitated, "I know just in these last few days I've told you how much I love Albus but I think I'm starting to realize that…argghhh I don't know Kurt. I don't know!" she exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air clearly confused. "Okay I'm just going to admit that I like Albus and also now Jesse again at the same time."

"Wow, didn't see that one coming," Kurt said wryly. "You make things so unobvious when it comes to love."

"Well you know what?" Rachel said looking up at Kurt furiously. "As soon as glee club ends today, I'm going to ask Albus out! Bet you didn't see that coming," Rachel mocked Kurt

"Wait, WHAT?" Kurt gasped. Just as he was so sure that his plan had worked, Rachel decided to do this to him_. Calm yourself down Kurt, it's not that big of a deal._ _He could easily say no or she could change her mind._

"But what about Jesse?" Kurt cautiously pried keeping his voice low.

"Well my plan is this; if Albus turns me down, I go to him. Anyway Jesse left a few moments ago so I might as well ask Albus in person first. The prom is in a few days anyway and I can't just wait till the last minute," Rachel said excitedly.

Kurt held his breathe for a second. "I though you said you would ask him out just before prom. Like the day before."

"At it is just before prom. Almost exactly 3 days before prom. You know I'm not a procrastinator."

Kurt sighed and started slowly walking to class. "Okay. Go ahead. You guys will be totally cute together." Kurt tried his best to sound thrilled for Rachel but instead he sounded a bit feeble and tired.

"Yay, thanks for all your help Kurt!" Rachel said pulling him into a quick hug. Kurt embraced her reluctantly. Even though you didn't help me that much just now, but whatever. I can see you're tired today. As soon as you get home you should get some rest. And hopefully while you're getting rest, I'll have myself a new foreign boyfriend," she squealed.

"Yes I'm sure you will," Kurt replied. "Listen I'm going to the washroom before class so I'll see you in glee club shortly."

"Okay Kurt. See you!"

As soon as Rachel turned around, Kurt dragged himself towards the washroom. He didn't even have to go to the washroom; he just wanted a few minutes to himself before glee club started.

_On a scale of one to ten, my day so far is a negative ten…okay maybe that's an over exaggeration but when you feel like crap and people tell you things that make you feel even more crappy, you feel like a big pile of well crap? No that's a bit too soft. You feel more like a big stinky, pile of shit_, Kurt thought to himself.

_Wow, I'm really out of it today_, Kurt muttered to himself

He needed a plan. Another plan since plan 'distract Rachel from thinking about Albus' didn't work. A plan that sounded reasonable and gave Kurt a genuine excuse to hang out with Albus more often before Rachel decided to sweep him off his feet. Once Rachel asked him out and if he said yes (though he was praying to himself that he would say no) Rachel would definitely cling to him like saran wrap 24/7 and Kurt would have no chance with him alone. And that was his general plan. To spend as much time as he could with Albus alone and get to know him. As a good friend of course. And possibly, if the pieces just happened to fall into place, there was a chance that Albus could be his boyfriend.

Kurt tried as much as he could not to think about that though. But every day, he couldn't help but just imagine. There was part of him that wanted so badly to hold hands, kiss, and caress Albus. But that part was being pushed back by the nudging realistic side of him that kept saying, '_He's probably straight. He's not ever going to be with you. You will only ever be his friend._'

And then there was the guilty side. The part of him that felt guilty whenever he thought of Albus, because he was with Blaine. Blaine, the perfect and nicest boyfriend ever, who made Kurt feel loved when he thought that no one would ever fall in love with him. And here he was, dedicating a part of his mind to Albus secretly.

This was his life. This was his mind. Every single day since he first saw Albus.

Kurt pushed open the washroom door. It smelled disgusting as usual and the pale grey walls seemed to make him feel even more exhausted. Kurt checked his phone for the time and class was going to start in another 10 minutes. Just as he was putting his phone back into the back, he heard the toilet flush. Curious, Kurt headed to the sink to pretend he was washing his hands and not just creeping on guys in the washroom. He shuddered as he thought about the rumours last year that had spread about how he wouldn't use the guys washroom unless he wanted to catch guys doing their business.

'_Are people really that perverted_?' Kurt thought as he turned on the tap and looked down as he was rinsing his hands. He heard the toilet door creek open and Kurt looked up at the mirror to see if he could catch a glimpse of who was behind him.

Kurt's stomach plummeted and his heart stopped as he saw who was coming out.

Albus.

_Oh God, right now? Out of all times that I could be alone with him, this is the moment? In the washroom when I'm feeling tired, look like crap and slightly depressed? Kill me now._

"Hello Kurt. Fancy seeing you here," Albus said cheerfully as he approached him.

_No, not really_, Kurt thought silently, as he continued to wash his hands. Kurt however decided to smile at him for good measure, so it wouldn't seem like Kurt was ignoring him.

As Albus was heading towards the sink, the handle of his backpack that was slung around his shoulder suddenly snapped and it crashed onto the ground. Stuff exploded out of it and Albus froze in terror as all this things laid scattered on top of the washroom floor.

"Crap," Albus muttered as he stared at all his items on the ground.

Kurt turned off the tap. "Do you need help?"

Albus scanned the floor and Kurt's eyes followed him. He saw Albus rapidly reach for something that was brown and long, and stuff it in the side of his pants but Kurt couldn't make out what it was.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks," Albus smiled as Kurt bent over and grabbed some of his things.

Well even thought this isn't the ideal moment, I might as well make the most of it, Kurt thought as he picked up some loose papers and arranged them. As he was arranging the papers, he noticed something peculiar. They were recent quizzes from the yesterday and they had very low marks. One paper said 2/15 while the other was 1/10.

_Wow he's not doing so well at all so far. I know it's only been a few days but the material can't be that different at all in England._

Suddenly an idea struck him. It was such a good idea; such a perfect idea and it made Kurt very thankful that he happened to be in the washroom the same time as Albus. Even if the day still sucked.

"Albus," Kurt started as he lifted the papers and turned the marked side to Albus.

Albus glanced up and nodded, "What?"

"How come you are doing um…well not so good in school right now. I mean, look at these quizzes those marks are remarkably bad," Kurt said as he gestured at the paper before handing them over to him.

Albus briefly looked horrified for a split second, but he then sheepishly looked at his backpack as he stuffed the papers messily into the front pouch. "Well I'm having trouble understanding some subjects. Like math and chemistry. I- I-I'm not that good that those subjects I guess."

Kurt smiled. This was definitely going to work.

"Well if you are having trouble I can help you, you know. I can tutor you. I almost have a 4.0 GPA, you probably don't know what that means because they use a different grading system in England, but trust me, it's quite good," Kurt excitedly chatted. "And, to be honest, Brittany isn't going to be of much help if you want some," he added shrugging his shoulders.

Albus, who finally got the remaining things into his bag, gazed directly at Kurt, who caught his gaze but then quickly looked away so that he wouldn't blush.

"Thanks for the offer," Albus said slowly getting up, "but I'm hopeless you know. I'll just not be able to get it."

Kurt shot up. "No, you're not hopeless. Not at all. You're still adjusting to life here, that's all. I understand what you're going through. When I was forced to go to Dalton because I was bullied here, I had to make new friends, wear new clothes and I almost had to start a new life."

"Wait, you were bullied here?" Albus asked, his eyes widening. For a moment, Albus looked off distantly, as if he was thinking of something, before he turned back to Kurt.

"Yeah I was, long story, but don't worry though. No one has pushed me into a locker since I arrived back here and no one will do that to you here, if you are worried about that,' Kurt grinned at him. "Everyone likes you too much at this school."

"I don't think so. That Santana girl is still kind of scaring me. I'm sure she doesn't like me."

"Nah, she's like that with everyone. She doesn't hate you. Believe me."

"Okay, I believe you."

"Anyway, what I was trying to say before is that everyone goes through rough patches. We all have had tough times where we've struggles because of change. But sometimes even in the rough patches, we find bright ones. Those bright little specks can change your lives forever," Kurt told Albus. Albus simply just stared back, intrigued at his words.

Kurt continued. "For me, my bright patch was Blaine. If I never had gone to Dalton, I would have never…" Kurt started, but paused suddenly. He was about to say that Blaine was his boyfriend but he stopped himself immediately. "…met one of my closest friends in the world. Definitely the brightest patch in my darkest times. Friends definitely can help you get through anything."

Albus contemplated his words. Kurt could see the emotion on his face that he was really taking this to heart.

"You're right. I've been feeling really lonely lately. It's kind of been showing up in my schoolwork I guess. I do really need friends to help me out," Albus said biting his lip nervously. "So Kurt, can you help me out with my schoolwork?"

Kurt's heart swelled and he couldn't contain himself. It was working. Things were slowly falling into place. This was basically the closest thing he could get to Albus asking him out so why shouldn't he be happy.

"Yes! Of course! Any day!" Kurt cheerfully replied. "When do you want to start?"

Albus suddenly glanced at his watch, and he gasped. "Well maybe we should discuss that later, because we are late for glee club!"

Kurt glanced over at his watch and saw that they were already 5 minutes late. "Yeah we should get going."

"Thanks. Really thanks for everything. I didn't think anyone would ever help me out here but you proved me wrong. You're a really good friend."

Kurt beamed. It was amazing how one small thing could make his entire day better. It turned it from a tiring day to a much better one.

Albus was definitely his bright speck in a dull day. And he was slowly turning into one bright speck didn't want imagine to living without.

**NEXT CHAPTER: Is about the adventures of James. I wonder how things are going there?**


	23. Lost

**Feeling a bit guilty cause the last 2 weekends I have had no homework but I hardly worked on my story until today.**

**I seriously just wrote 2000 plus words in the last 3 hours.**

**Yes this is a very long chapter for my standards and it might be kind of boring so please tell me what you think of this side of the story in the reviews if you are willing and have time.**

**Next chapter I might have tomorrow (or not). It's going to be a really short chapter though so expect it a bit sooner. **

**After that possible chapter it's back to Lima and it's going to be Prom time!**

**Enjoy!**

**PS Some of the things in this chapter might not be accurate to the Harry Potter world but I tried by best to make it accurate and improvise/ make it up where I needed to. So things make more sense story wise ya know? So don't be too nit picky please. **

* * *

><p>Lost<p>

Cold. Lonely. Frightened. Hungry.

Stupid.

That's what James Potter had been feeling for the last 48 hours.

Until he entered the pub. Now he just wasn't as cold anymore.

Currently he was now lodged at a small, sketchy, empty pub in a very small and sleepy town. It was a two storey building that was very dirty and dim inside but he could care less. It was the first building he had seen since leaving Gringrotts. That meant it was basically paradise.

As soon as he entered the pub, James dragged himself towards the nearest seat. His legs were numb and sore, his right foot was throbbing intensely and he could hardly think as he sat down and slouched forward on a stool in front of the bar.

He leaned onto the table exhausted and glanced towards the only person in the pub, the bartender.

"You got anything? Food perhaps? A drink?" James asked straightforwardly.

The bartender turned towards him un-amused. He was a large middle aged man with a scruffy beard and a balding head. He lifted one of his pudgy hands. "This is a pub, you know. Just because it's empty doesn't mean I don't sell nothin'. Whatcha want man?"

James sighed heavily. "Anything man."

The bartender stared at him then turned around to go prepare something. "Is fish n' chip with a beer okay with you?"

James pondered whether he should mention that he was underage and couldn't drink Muggle alcohol, but he decided not to.

"Go ahead."

As the bartender went off to prepare his meal, James closed his eyes and lay his head down on the table in between his arms. He barely slept the night before; it was too cold and rainy for him to fall sleep for more than one hour at a time. He clothes were still damp, though it didn't rain at all though the daytime.

As he slowly drifted off, he recounted the events that had happened within the last 2 days.

_James stepped into Gringrotts at approximately 12:30am. After walking for about a half hour in the dark just to place himself as far as he could from Hogsmeade, he decided to apparated to Diagon Alley so he could go to Gringrotts to get money for his travels._

_Apparating was a risky move to do. He honestly didn't even want to bother trying to apparate because of all the bad vibes and memories about Albus attached to it, but it was a must if he was going to get to Gringrotts. James also didn't want to apparate because of the rumours of a new technique that was being tried out that allowed any Ministry of Magical official to track any apparitions of any wizard or witch when necessary. However this technique could only be used for in country apparitions. He was afraid that someone would catch him, but he just kept telling himself that the technique was only used when they were trying to find someone and no one would be searching for him. Yet. _

_James also had somewhat calculated out that by the time people would notice he was missing, he would have left Diagon Alley behind and be wandering throughout the British country side where no wizard could find him. Hopefully._

_Of course, rumours of this new technique/ policy came into place within days of Albus apparating and disappearing. And since it they hadn't be able to track Albus through the technique it was either:_

_Unsuccessful_

_Albus wasn't in the country_

_James was praying that it was unsuccessful. _

_Quickly, James scanned the interior of Gringrotts. Since it was very late at night, there was only one teller at the bank and no one else. The banker, a peculiar goblin with spectacles, looked like he was half asleep. James approached him quietly._

"_Hello sir?"_

_The goblin raised his head and stared directly at James. James held his breathe, hoping this would go according to plan._

"_Yes how may I help you?"_

"_I like to withdraw some money sir," James calmly stated._

_The goblin gestured for him to step forward. "Name?"_

_James clenched his fists, wondering if giving his real name would be okay. "Uh James Potter."_

_The goblin raised an eyebrow, "Oh so you are the other son of Harry Potter. The one who didn't vanish into thin air. What are you doing here at this time of night? All by yourself?"_

_James hesitated. "I-I want to buy a gift for my parents to cheer them up a bit," he lied._

_The goblin frowned and James was worried he wouldn't believe him. "Very well. How much do you want to withdraw?"_

_James relaxed and told him. "About 300 galleons." Before he left, James made some calculations and figured out that 1 galleon was about 5 Muggle pounds, so 300 galleons would be 1500 pounds which he thought would be enough to sustain him for a while. He knew that he had at least 500 galleons in his vault so he didn't worry too much about not having enough._

_The goblin squinted and nodded. "That's quite a lot of money for a gift but if that's what you want." He gestured his hand at James . "Key please."_

_James blanked for a second, he couldn't remember whether he brought a key or not. Each member of his family had a vault at Gringrotts and each of them had a key. James usually carried his key with him all the time (so he wouldn't misplace it) but he wasn't sure if he had it on him or left it at Hogwarts._

"_Um… hold on a second," James said and started to rummage through his bag. As useful as the undetectable extension charm was it was always a pain looking for things. James' heart beat faster and faster and he knew that if he couldn't find the key all his plans were ruined._

"_Trouble finding your key Mr. Potter?"_

"_No I'm sure I have it, just give me a moment," James quickly told the goblin. Just as he was saying those words, he saw a glowing silver key pop out of the spell book he took. He sighed heavily._

_James grinned as he pulled out the key and handed it to the goblin. "Here you go."_

"_Thanks. Please give me five minutes and I should be able to withdraw the money."_

_The next five minutes was painful as James waited in the main entrance all by himself. This was too easy. The goblin hadn't questioned him about why he was not in school or why he was here in the middle of the night all by himself. Finally the Goblin returned with a sack of galleons in his hand looking slightly exhausted. "Here you go Mr. Potter. I hope you get a wonderful gift for your parents. From what I've heard, they need something nice."_

"_Yes I'll get them something great. One more quick question, does the Muggle Currency Exchanging machine work right now?" James pointed at the gold machine right at front of the bank._

"_Yes, why are you wondering?"_

"_Oh I might want to exchange some money into Muggle currency. I might want to get a Muggle gift for them." The goblin didn't reply back. "Just weighing the options you know," James half laughed, but was worried why the Goblin was so stone faced._

"_I see. But I don't think that Hogwarts will be too pleased to see you exchanging money to buy gifts for your parents or for the real reason you are her..." the goblin said dramatically pausing,"…to see to trying to run away at this time at night when you should be at school," the goblin smirked. _

_James eyes widened. So the goblin was clever enough to figure why he was here. And if the goblin told the authorities, it was all over. Without hesitation, James whipped out his wand and yelled an incantation. _

"_Obliviate!" _

_The goblin realized James he was doing but he didn't react quickly enough as the spell hit him. There was a flash of blue light and the goblin suddenly had a blank expression on his face._

_James took two steps forwards seeing if the spell worked. "Hello?"_

_The goblin simply stared at him confused. "Who are you?"_

_James smiled briefly and darted for the Muggle Currency Exchanging machine. He glanced at the goblin who was still confused since his memory was wiped out, but the goblin didn't react and just stood in place muttering to himself._

_James ran up to the machine and poured all the Galleons out of the sack into the top of it which was a golden, silver trimmed funnel. The machine beeped to life and within 30 seconds, a wad full of Muggle cash came out the bottom. James grabbed it and threw it into his bag and then bolted out the door into Diagon Alley._

_Now that he had money, it was time to start his quest to find Albus. Running through the dark alley he finally came to a passage that was hidden from the main alley. Taking a deep breathe he slipped his bag around his shoulder and prepared to apparate one last time. He didn't have a place in mind but he just thought about what Albus would have thought of if he was trying to apparate into a field. However James didn't want to apparate anywhere near his home in case he was caught so he just closed his eyes and thought of a general picture of the English country side. _

_Before he could change his mind, he felt the sickening sensation of apparating. It felt like he was being squeezed through an airless dark tube. However within moments it was over and James tumbled onto the soggy ground. James gasped and opened his eyes trying to observe his surroundings but not before a sharp pain came from his right foot._

"_Bloody hell," James shouted. He immediately reached for his right shoe and yanked it off, along with his sock. He grabbed his wand and said "Lumos" and light shot out from the wand and illuminated the dark. He looked for what was wrong and to his horror he noticed that 3 of his 5 toenails were missing as well as all the skin around his foot. His was a bright raw pink now. He was splitched. _

_He bit his lip in agony. At least he didn't lose any of his toes, or his whole foot but it was still super painful. His foot throbbed and James wondered if Albus was splitched at all. He pushed out the dreadful thought of his brother possibly lying dead in a field because both his feet were missing, stuck his wand in his mouth, and grabbed his bag and rummaged for some bandages to help his sore foot. _

_While fixing up his foot with 2 large bandages that he found and a very long sock, he took brief glances of his surroundings. He was a grass, empty moor surrounded by rolling hills. He had absolutely no clue where he was exactly, but that was his goal; to apparate to the middle of nowhere. _

_Was that was what Albus was thinking when he apparated? Instead of apparating into the field in his backyard, he pictured some place that was in the middle of nowhere? Or maybe he had a different place in mind. Maybe he never actually pictured apparating into a field; he could have pictured London or somewhere else for all he knew._

_Anywhere that wasn't near him. _

_Because of what he done to him. _

_Ruined him. _

_Humiliated him. _

_Severed the strings of their relationship._

_And of course he was too dumb to notice until it was too late. Until Albus was gone._

_James wondered if he could be wrong. Maybe this was a freak accident. Maybe this whole over the top theory of Albus running away because of The Incident that happened between them had absolutely nothing to do with this. And James was sitting a damp moor in the middle of the dark for no reason at all. Wasting his future away._

No_, he told himself. _Let's not go there. I'm already here, I might as well try. Giving up is the worst thing I could do right now. Even if this was an accident, I will try to find him. He has to be in this country somewhere. And I will apologize to him. For all the shit I put him though. For all I did and all the pain I caused him. Cause I really do miss him.

_James finished trying to fix up his foot with what he had, put on his shoe and stood up. Pain shot up his leg and he wondered if he would even be able to walk. He gingerly took a few steps forward, and he just figured if he just tried to ignore the pain, he would get along fine._

_Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he decided he would walk for about an hour to find a place to camp out for the night. He held the wand in his hand and used it to illuminate the way._

_As he was watching the near pitch black darkness, he thought about his nails. With a sudden wave of fear, he wondered if they would find his 3 nails and top layer of skin lying on the ground somewhere in Diagon Alley and be able to track him using that. _

Stay positive James, they probably won't find it_, he told himself._

_Soon after what he thought was about an hour, James plopped down on the ground near a group of birch trees. He pulled out his sleeping bag from the brown bag and slipped into it, shivering a little. He would have to get rest now if he was going to continue walking in the morning. As soon as the sunlight was out, he would get up and truly begin searching for Albus._

_James lay on his back and stared at the stars. He was very thankful it was one of those rare clear nights in England. Rain would ruin the night and could make him sick. And he hated being sick. _

_Taking deep breaths, James tried his best to fall asleep on the hard ground. He really wished he was in his own comfy bed right now. Finally, he drifted off and fell asleep soundly for a few hours._

_Until he heard the sound of birds chirping at the crack of dawn._

_James groaned and got up slowly. Dew was on all his stuff and he felt very sticky and disgusting. His right foot was still tingling and his head was pulsing badly._

_He wasn't ready at all to try to find Albus. But as he got up, changed, ate an apple, and threw his stuff in the bag, he decided to put himself last for once, and focus on nothing but finding Albus_

"Man wake up!"

James was nudged in the shoulder by the bar tender at pub. He got up groggily. He didn't plan on falling asleep at the counter but he was so tired he couldn't help himself.

"You okay? You don't look too well,"

James shrugged. "I-I'm okay. I could be worst."

The bartender nodded, and shoved the plate of fish and chips and beer in his face. "Thanks again," James replied and dug into the food immediately.

"Anytime. Actually this meal is on me. Just for you because you seem kind…out of it."

"Oh," James said. "I do have money if you're wondering."

"No need."

James ate and drank the strange tasting Muggle beer as quick as he could. His body slowly warmed up and he sighed happily. It was late now, and James really didn't want to sleep outside again. Maybe the bartender could do him another favour.

"Um excuse me sir?"

The bartender turned around from the counter and nodded. "You can call me John," he told him.

"Sorry but can I ask for another favour?"

"Sure. Unless you want to buy the pub, I can't do that for you. That's a little too much."

James smiled. "Well John, is it okay if I sleep here for the night? I don't really have any place to sleep at right now."

John tilted his head quizzically. "Why? I mean, sure you can bunk on the spare cot upstairs, but why don't you have a place to sleep at?"

James shoulders sagged. "It's kind of a long story."

John walked up to him, "Family troubles?"

James stopped eating and stared at him. "Sort of. It's complicated."

John simply smiled at him. "That's okay. You don't have to explain if you don't want to. I know a kid on the run when I see one. I was one of those kids a long time ago."

James looked at the man, wondering why he ended up running away from his family. He wondered what cause him to run away from them and never turn back. Was it his parents? Or a sibling? Maybe he could help him find Albus. It was worth a chance.

"Well thank you again time a hundred," James told him as he finished off his meal. John immediately grabbed the plate and put it into the sink.

"The cot is in the first room on the left upstairs."

James slowly got up and picked up his bag off the floor and headed towards the stairs in the back. However he turned around quickly. "John can I ask one more question?"

"Go ahead."

"Why did you give me beer if you knew I was a kid, well underage, all this while."

John chuckled, "Well one beer doesn't harm a kid. How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"When I was your age, I need a beer a day to help me get through things. The right beer can be quite the pick me up."

James grinned a bit. "Yeah. I do feel much better now. Goodnight sir- I mean John."

"G'night. Sleep in as long as you want."

James nodded and climbed up the stairs. He found the room, pushed open the door, dropped his bag on the floor and collapsed onto the small cot.

Sure he hadn't found Albus set, or had any leads, but now that he finally found a Muggle he could safely talk to, his worries slowly drifted away along with his ability to stay awake.


	24. Shattered

**Told you I'll update soon cause this is really short. This is kind of a filler chapter, so you know what's going on with Lily.**

**Don't worry though, I promise next chapter will be in Lima and will involve Albus, Kurt, Brittany, Rachel etc. It's Prom time!**

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><p>Shattered<p>

_Lily do you know what happened?_

_Lily I'm so sorry for you._

_Lily are you sure you don't know where James went?_

_Lily speak to us._

_No I have no clue._

_Please stop being sorry. I'll be okay._

_I don't know._

_No. I don't want to._

The words rung and echoed through Lily's head continuously. It was like someone was stuck in her head and pounding the phrases into her brain.

She didn't want to hear them. She wished she _couldn't_ hear them. But they followed her like the plague.

Silence. That was the key.

To be silent when necessary.

And to be where it was silence as much as possible.

But she knew that wasn't totally possible. If she kept silent too much, people would suspect that she knew something about James running away. So whenever someone asked "Do you know where James went?" she would fake being extremely upset and say "I don't know. Stop asking. I have no idea at all!"

Which was true. She didn't know where he was.

But she did know that he ran away from Hogwarts to try to find Albus.

Yet everyone believed her and her beautiful little white lies. Everyone pitied her and her situation. Two brothers both missing, and no one knew where they were.

Sure they would keep asking all sorts of questions, but no one questioned her further about what she knew. Not even the professors. And her cousins, Rose and Hugo respected her personal space. They were feeling almost just as bad and they understood that she needed time alone. To think and to simply just relax.

So that's what she was currently doing. Sitting alone in the Gryffindor common room, while everyone else was at class (she was excused for the rest of the day); staring blankly at the Albus shrine, and thinking and pondering about life.

She looked at the pictures on the shrine. Someone had put a picture of James next to Albus' picture. Then there was the family shot of them that was in the Prophet from 2 weeks ago. Lily sighed; they looked so happy and carefree in the picture.

All five of them.

Complete.

Now two of the people in the picture were gone; one completely missing and the other one searching for the one that was missing.

Shattered.

As she stared at the pictures, questions fired through her mind.

What were her parents going to think?

What was the Prophet going to write?

What was James thinking? Did he really think he would be able to find Albus? Was he insane?

No he wasn't. He was just feeling guilty. And he felt like the only way to get rid of his guilt was to talk to Albus. She could see that all the guilt poured out of him 24 hours after Albus disappeared. Lily knew something was up.

She knew something bad happened between James and Albus. Something that severed their relationship drastically. She knew that it most likely involved Ethan as well, Albus' very close friend since Year One, who left Hogwarts just last year because his parents decided to move to France. But Lily had a gut feeling that he left not just because his parents were conveniently moving. There was definitely another factor, and she was very sure that Albus and James were part of it.

After all, Ethan and Albus had abruptly stopped talking to each other right before Year Five ended. Best friends don't just do that to one another.

Lily got up and shook her head, as if she was trying to clear it. There was so much going on in her mind and she wished she could empty her entire head.

_James. Albus. Lost. Apparating. Ethan. Guilt. Parents. School. _

She walked towards the shrine and picked up the framed pictures of Albus and James. She looked at them, her hands shaking while she held the pictures. She wondered what Albus was doing; what James was doing. Could they have met each other already, and all their problems were solved but she just didn't know it yet?

Or were they dead?

Suddenly, the both pictures slipped from her hand and fell onto the hard floor. Lily gasped as the glass from the frames cracked and both of the split in half across the picture. She gazed at the pictures and what remained of the frames, not moving a muscle.

Broken. The pictures were broken. She could easily fix them with a _repairo _spell in a few seconds.

Shattered. Her family was shattered. For who knows how long. And there was no spell that could fix that.


	25. Prom

Prom

"Will you go with me to prom Albus?"

Those were the first words that left Rachel's lips after she pulled Albus to the side after glee club. Albus was a little shocked by this, but after all the little hints that she gave him yesterday, he should have saw this coming soon.

Albus stood there, staring blankly for a few seconds, hesitating. Since he was now with Brittany, it wouldn't be right to go on a date to prom with her. But no one could know that so he had to think of another way to tell her that he couldn't go with her. He knew what he was going to say to her, he was just afraid of how she would react. Finally, words seemed to form at his mouth.

"Well…um…Rachel. I would like to go to prom, but I think I'll just go by myself," Albus carefully said as he watched Rachel bright smile fall suddenly. "I'm sorry it's just…well… I don't feel like going out with anyone right now."

Rachel simply just stared at him for a few seconds before finally, slowly nodding her head. "Oh well I-I wasn't asking you out. I was just wondering if you would be my companion fo…"

"No Rachel. You were. I'm not that dumb you know."

She shrugged. "Okay I was asking you out. But…"

"Look I think you're really nice Rachel and you've been a great friend since I've arrived here, but it's only been a few weeks. I'm not even sure if I'll go to prom."

"You're not going to prom?" a familiar voice from behind Albus spoke up. Albus glanced over his shoulder and saw Kurt walk up beside him.

"Well what's the point of going if I don't want to go with anyone?" Albus replied.

"Oh so you're not going with Rachel?" Kurt said raising his eyebrow and turning towards Rachel.

"No he's not. Albus said…" Rachel started.

"That I rather not go out with anyone right now. I'm still getting used to things around here and…"

Kurt waved his hand dismissively. "Excuses, excuses. You have to go to junior prom. Go by yourself! Tag along with Blaine and I! Or even Rachel or Brittany! But you must go."

Albus bit his lip. Was it really worth going? He had never been to a prom and the closest thing to a prom that he had been to was Yule Ball in his fourth year when the Triwizard Tournament came to his school.

But these were new people, harmless Muggles as a matter of fact. It was a fresh start for him and he didn't want to seem like an outcast or a loner if he didn't join them. He was already almost a loner back at Hogwarts and he didn't want to become one here, especially when he made actual friends who weren't related to him.

"Well I guess if everyone else is going I might as well tag along," Albus said carefully.

As soon as he said that Kurt and Rachel squealed simultaneously and Kurt clapped his hands together.

"Great! That's perfect. I can't wait. I think you'll love it," Kurt excitedly replied.

"But what am I going to wear? All my clothes are pretty casual." Albus asked.

Kurt's face fell for a split second and he turned to Rachel. "Wait did we not get him a suit when we went shopping?"

"I don't think so. Wait does that mean we get to go sho…" Rachel started

"Doesn't someone have a suit I could just borrow? You guys really don't need to spend any more on me." Albus interrupted as quickly as he could.

Kurt smiled again. "Sure! I bet Finn has an old spare suit that he doesn't wear anymore. Just come over to my place before prom and we will get you suited up."

The corners of his mouth turned up. "Thanks Kurt." He quickly glanced at a clock in the hall and saw he had a minute till his next class. "Listen, I'm going to head to my next class now. I'll see you guys later." He quickly waved at Kurt and Rachel before he turned around.

However as he turned around he swore he heard Rachel loudly whisper to Kurt, "I can't imagine how handsome he's going to look in his suit!" Albus grinned to himself and shook his head.

If only girls liked him as much back at Hogwarts

Kurt stood next to Blaine in the McKinley gymnasium, now decorated for junior prom. The two of them were lined up against the wall of the gym near the little table of snacks and punch. They were taking a break from dancing to the blaring music.

Kurt scanned the gymnasium to see where everyone was. He caught Rachel chatting excitedly to Jesse St. James, who she decided to ask out to prom after all, after being rejected by Albus. She seemed to be enjoying herself and Kurt was thankful that she was with him and not Albus. He didn't want to imagine how awkward and painful it would be for him to see her dancing with Albus.

Turning to his left, he saw Albus near the punch bowl, quietly getting some punch in a small paper cup. Kurt had to admit he looked very dashing and wonderful in his suit that was actually Finn's old suit. It seemed to fit Albus almost perfectly though Finn was a few inches taller than him.

'_Clean thoughts, clean thoughts, Blaine's here, even though he can't read my mind but still…_' Kurt thought to himself as he looked at Albus. He felt uncomfortable if he thought too much about Albus when he was around Blaine, and tonight he was going to do his best not to do that.

But one little conversation wouldn't hurt.

Kurt gestured to Blaine that he was heading to the table, and walked up to Albus and gently tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey. How's prom going?"

Albus smiled and answered, "Well it's different from what I expected."

"Different?" a voice behind Kurt answered. Kurt turned around and saw Blaine coming up right behind him. Kurt sucked in his breathe a little. Did he really have to follow him?

"Is it really that much different in England?" Blaine continued.

"Well you see we didn't really have a prom at my old school. We did have this thing we called a 'ball' but it only came to our school once every couple years," Albus explained vaguely.

As he said that, Kurt realized he never asked what school he went to in England. However just as he was about to ask him, Albus spoke up suddenly.

"Hey do you guys want some punch? It's really good," Albus asked them pointing to the bowl. Kurt's eye scanned the area for Puck, since he knew that every year he tried to spike the punch. However he was nowhere in sight yet, so Kurt assumed that it wasn't drenched in alcohol.

"Sure," Kurt said. "What's in it though?"

"Some fruity drink and I definitely taste Squirt in there too," Albus stated.

"Squirt?" Blaine piped up. "I love Squirt! It's my favourite drink!"

"Same! It's one of the few pop drinks I've had though. My parents bought it for us on special occasions and I loved it," Albus said. "Here Blaine," he said handing over the punch. "How about you Kurt?"

"Well if it has Squirt in it, I rather stay dehydrated," Kurt said unenthusiastically. "I'll get something else later."

The three of them stood near the table for a little longer making small talk and eating a few snacks. However after a few minutes, Blaine started to look a bit pale and queasy. Kurt noticed this immediately.

"Blaine, are you okay?" Kurt asked him concerned.

"No, it's nothing big. My stomach just feels a bit iffy, but I'm sure it will pass," Blaine told him grimacing a little.

Albus furrowed his brow. "You don't look okay."

"No I'm fine really," Blaine said brushing it off. "I just need to go to the washroom, I'll be right back." He quickly rushed towards the door after he spoke.

Albus immediately turned to Kurt. "You should check up on him. I'm 99% sure he's not okay."

Kurt grimaced. "Yeah I guess I should, after I'm his bo- I'm his best friend."

Albus gestured to the door. "Go now. I'll just talk to someone else, don't worry. I won't be alone."

"Okay, okay. But I'll be back."

As Kurt exited the gym, his mind was full of thoughts, and surprisingly they weren't about Blaine. Instead he was questioning why he automatically corrected himself when he was about to say that Blaine was his boyfriend. Was he afraid of what Albus would think? Or did he just want to pretend he was single around Albus because it felt wrong if he didn't.

_What is wrong with me? I can't just keep my sexuality quiet around Albus forever. I have to tell him sometime, _Kurt thought.

He wasn't sure when he would tell Albus that Blaine was his boyfriend, but he was surprised that he hadn't questioned yet. Why else would he go to prom with Blaine? Was Albus that naïve? Or did he actually know he was gay and just rather not acknowledge it.

As Kurt kept firing questions in his mind while speed walking through the hall to the nearest washroom, he was starting to feel guiltier by the second. Because deep down, Kurt would rather not tell him at all and just continue to cover the truth up. He rather just come out to him personally when the time was right. And that time would be when he asked him out and…

_NO NO NO NO NO_, Kurt shouted in his head. _What are you thinking? You will never do that. He straight most likely, you have no chance. And you are dating the most perfect person ever who you are going to check upon to see if he's okay because you are a caring, wonderful boyfriend. You can't be thinking about Albus when you are with Blaine._

But he was, and he couldn't control it.

Kurt started to jog to the bathroom, so he could immediately forget about Albus and focus on helping Blaine. He came to the bathroom door and pushed it open with certain ferocity. As he opened the door he heard a sudden barfing noise and the splash of toilet water.

"Oh my God. Blaine is that you? Are you okay?" Kurt asked horrified.

"No-no-no I'm fine and…"Blaine's muffled words were suddenly cut off by another round of puking.

"Blaine, shut up. You are not 'fine'. Out here it sounds like you're dying of stomach flu."

"Okay, I'm not fine. I feel horrible," he replied back weakly. "I think I got food poisoning from something and—BLARRGHHHHH."

Kurt thumped his foot impatiently and threw up his hands in frustration. "You know what? I'm going to find some pepto bismol or something and a barf bag and you are going back home ASAP."

"But…"

"No buts. I'm driving you home right away. Once you're done puking of course."

After about another 15 minutes of waiting in the bathroom for Blaine to finish throwing up, Kurt gently held him on the arm and led him to his car. He looked even more pale and greenish than before, and Kurt felt sorry for him.

Kurt drove him home quickly, but not too quickly (the last thing he wanted was for Blaine to projectile vomit in his car) and walked him to his house, then to his bedroom. His parents were out for the night so Kurt had to take care of him for now. Blaine immediately collapsed onto his bed in exhaustion. Kurt nudged him gently and attempted to help tuck him into his bed as best as he could. Once Blaine was comfortable, Kurt decided to take more action.

"Blaine I'm going to get some Pepto, I'll be right back," Kurt told him. Blaine reply was a moan.

Kurt dashed to the cupboard where the Pepto Bismol was, then brought it back to his bedroom and forced 2 spoonfuls of it down Blaine's mouth.

"Thanks a lot Kurt," Blaine murmured once he took it.

"No problem. That's what I'm here for."

The two of the sat in silence for a bit. Kurt was unsure of whether to stay with him until his parents came back or go back to the prom. He knew he would feel guilty if he left because since Blaine wouldn't there with him, the only reason he would go back was to see Albus.

_And I can't. I can't be more committed to being with Albus when my boyfriend is sick. Being a good boyfriend is more important than Albus, being a good boyfriend is more important_, Kurt chanted in his head.

Suddenly, as if Blaine read his mind, he spoke up.

"I know you want to go back. You should go back. Back to the prom," he said quietly.

Kurt was slightly taking aback. "You-you want me to go back? Are you fine on your own? I can't just leave you."

"Kurt, I really don't want to ruin your night. I'm sorry I did already though. But you should go."

"But…"

"Go. Go have fun. Junior prom only happens once, am I right?"

Kurt simply just stared at him. He couldn't believe that Blaine just simply wanted him to go back. This day was meant for them to be together. He couldn't go back, he couldn't abandon him while he was sick.

"Please just go. I'm not going anywhere, unless it's to the washroom in case I still have stuff in my stomach to throw up," Blaine said smiling weakly. Kurt chuckled.

"The only thing I want for you is to be happy Kurt. And sitting at my bedside for the rest of the night while I fall asleep isn't going to make you happy."

Kurt smiled sadly. He was right. He was only here because he wanted to be a good boyfriend, and sitting in Blaine's room all night while he was sick would bore him. "Okay. I'll go back. Just for you. Only cause you insisted."

"Good. And trust me I'm fin…"

"No you're not fine Blaine. Or else you wouldn't be lying here," Kurt said as he rolled his eyes. He stood up from his bedside and kissed him softly on the forehead. "Goodnight then. You better get to sleep. I hope you feel better in the morning."

Blaine rolled over onto his side and quietly said, "Don't worry. You have no clue how physically exhausting vomiting a bazillion times is." Closing his eyes he continued in a loud whisper. "And I'll probably be feeling better than anyone who will be hung-over tomorrow."

Satisfied, Kurt headed towards the door. Just as he was going to open the door he heard a soft whisper behind him.

"I love you Kurt."

Kurt's stomach sank. Every step that he took away from Blaine, made him feel guiltier by the second. He was so good to him, and yet Kurt felt like he was mentally cheating on him. Here, Blaine wanted him to go back so he could be happy, and the reason he was going back was to he could chat with Albus.

Funny how one of the only things that could make Kurt happy was the one person who could make Blaine unhappy, if Kurt decided to go in that direction. But he couldn't. And he wouldn't.

Would he?

_No. It mustn't happen. I must not do that._

Not if he wanted to end up feeling like the absolute guiltiest person in the world.

Kurt drove back to the school carefully. As soon as he entered the gymnasium, Albus seem to come out of nowhere and rushed up to him.

"Where have you been? It's been almost an hour and everyone was wondering where you and Blaine were."

"Well it turns out Blaine had food poisoning or a stomach flu, so I drove him back home and took care of him for a bit."

Albus frowned, "That's horrible. Do you think he'll be okay soon?"

"Probably. Those things only last a day or so. He'll be fine soon," Kurt assured him. "So what did I miss?"

"Well Blaine was supposed to perform a song so everyone was wondering where he was. And where you were as well. I told them you went to check on Blaine to see if he was okay. No one could fine you two so we just had to forget about the song."

"Oh wow I totally forgot about that," Kurt said shaking his head. "I still don't understand how he was allowed to perform at our prom when he doesn't even go here. Not that I have a problem with that."

Albus chuckled. "Well he is an amazing singer and did inspire me to join you guys."

"Yeah he is," Kurt said smiling briefly. _And you are an amazing singer too but you just don't truly realize it. _ "Anything else?"

"Yeah your brother Finn and that guy Rachel invited got kicked out cause they got into a fight."

Kurt's eyes widened. He didn't think about Finn and Jesse going at each other when he decided to call Jesse so he could ask Rachel to prom. "Oh dear. Do you know why?"

"I have no clue at all. That scary coach threw them out."

"Well I'm just going to assume it was over Rachel. They both used to date her and well… they both don't like each other very much. Did Rachel tell you anything about her love history?"  
>"No I don't think so. Or if she did, I don't remember it cause half the time she talks to me, she just rambles on and on about who knows what, so I just ignore it. "<p>

Kurt couldn't help but smile. How could someone not like Albus?

"Good," he replied. "You really don't want to know all the drama."

Suddenly, an announcement rung throughout the gymnasium.

"WE ARE NOW GOING TO ANNOUCE OUR PROM KING AND QUEEN OF JUNIOR PROM 2011. PLEASE FIND A SEAT."

"Prom King and Queen? Can you refresh me about this?" Albus questioned.

"Sure. Every year someone wins the Prom King's crown and Prom Queen's tiara and it's actually pretty pointless and usually rigged. But then for the rest of the year you basically get treated like royalty and everyone pretends to love you and kiss up to your ass because if you don't you'll be knocked down to the bottom by the king and queen. Does that make sense?"

Albus nodded. "I guess. It's just so strange and different from my old school."

Kurt, once again, was about to open his mouth to ask him about his old school but Albus spoke up once again.

"C'mon. Let's get a seat."

Kurt followed Albus and the two of them sat down next to Rachel who looked slightly depressed. However she perked up once Albus plopped down next to her.

"Hey, how are you finding prom so far?" Rachel asked Albus.

"Interesting. Strange. But fun. And the snacks were good," Albus replied back.

"That's great. At least someone is enjoying themselves," Rachel said. "And Kurt," she said turning to him, "where the heck have you been?"

"Blaine got sick. I drove him home and looked after him."

"So I guess this prom has kind of sucked for you too."

"Yeah. It…" Kurt started but was suddenly cut off by Principal Figgins speaking into the mike.

"And McKinley's 2011 Prom King is….David Karofsky."

Applause , cheers and wolf whistles followed as Karofsky walked up the stage, grinning like a mad man. Santana blew a kiss to him, feeling confident that she was going to be prom queen since she was his date. Kurt didn't even bother clapping.

Things quieted down again. Principal Figgins placed the mike to his mouth again. "And McKinley's 2011 Prom Queen is…"

Kurt scanned the nominees for prom queen on stage, and observed their face so he could watch their reactions. However after Figgins opened the envelope, there was a sudden silence, followed by 2 words that would change him forever.

"Kurt Hummel."

There was a deafening silence as a spotlight flashed into Kurt's face. Kurt didn't even blink because he was paralyzed by shock. His muscles were frozen in place, yet his mind was reeling in stupor.

How.

Why.

This can't be happening.

No.

NO.

Albus is next to me.

This can't be happening.

Everyone was looking at him now. Everyone. And to his greatest fear, Karofsky was glaring angrily at him.

He couldn't sit here anymore. He needed to get up. And leave. And never return.

If he stayed at Dalton none of this would have happened.

Kurt's brain finally told him to move. Slowly he got up and turned his head to his right where Albus was sitting. And in that moment, he saw the confusion and shock in his eyes. Kurt felt like he hurt him and let him down, even though he didn't do anything at all. Seeing Albus like that just tugged at his heart and made him feel guilty for no reason.

And that was enough to make him sprint out of the gymnasium, with a flood of tears in his eyes.


	26. Understanding

**Hey I'm back. Sorry for taking so long. Again. School is ugh... indescribable and I'm also part of the pit band for my school's musical (bye Bye birdie yay or nay?) so I've been busy. But I guess you expect this of me so yeah.**

**Anyway, thanks to all my followers for sticking by me even though I barely update. It's nice that you trust me that I will finished the story. (because I will)(eventually)**

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><p>Understanding<p>

As soon as he heard Principal Figgins announce Kurt Hummel as prom queen, Albus' mind went blank for a split second. Then the confusion started to sink in slowly.

_Wait, what? How can Kurt be prom queen? He didn't even sign up for this_, Albus thought to himself. Albus glanced to where Kurt was sitting and looked at him, puzzled. Kurt simply stared at him his eyes brimming with tears. Albus opened his mouth to say his name, but before he could get any words out, Kurt shot up right and bolted out the room.

Everyone was murmuring to each other quietly, and Albus turned to Rachel who looked just as shocked has he was.

"Oh my God…" Rachel whispered.

"What just happened?" Albus asked her.

"I don't know, other than _that _wasn't supposed to happen."

Albus sat that in silence for a second before he replied to Rachel.

"I'm going to go after him."

"What? I'll…"

"No, I think I should just go by myself. He probably doesn't want to talk to a whole bunch of us."

"Do you think he'll even talk at all?"

Albus stood up and looked her in the eye. "I have a feeling he might talk to me."

So Albus jogged to the door that Kurt left through. He noticed a few people glancing at him oddly but he ignored it. Kurt needed a friend at this moment, and Albus would be there for him.

Albus walked through the halls as efficiently as he could.

"Kurt? Kurt are you there? Where are you?" He really hoped that Kurt hadn't left the building.

"Kurt? It's Albus?"

"Just –sniff- go Albus, please."

Albus rushed to where the muffled sobs were coming from and saw that just around the corner was Kurt on the floor, weeping quietly.

"Oh God, are you okay?" Albus said kneeling down to where he was.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" Kurt exasperatedly said through his tears.

Albus bit his lip and awkwardly looked away for a second. "Sorry. That was a stupid question to ask."

"It's okay. I forgive you. But I really don't want to talk to anyone right now, so Albus just…"

"No, I'm not," Albus said firmly. "I'm not going to leave you when you are in this state."

Kurt gazed at him curiously, and Albus saw that his blue eyes were even brighter through the tears. "Why? You've known me for like 2 weeks. Why do you even care about me?"

"Because I'm your friend and…"

"So? I have plenty of other friends who I've known longer than you. How come they aren't sitting next to me trying to comfort me? Why did you of all people bother to try to encourage me?"

Albus mind began to spin. The Incident and the events following it slowly fogged up his mind. Flashes of it came back and he tried to push them out. He felt like his eyes glazed over and for a moment he forgot that Kurt was even there.

"Albus? Are you…?"

"Because I understand what you are going through, " Albus said bringing his focus back to Kurt.

"What? You've been announced as Prom Queen in front of an entire fucking school and everyone thinks it's just fucking hilarious?" Kurt said angrily through his tears.

Albus was taking a back for a moment by Kurt's use of language. He had never heard him say words like that before. However he brushed it aside and continued.

"Nobody was laughing at that Kurt, if you are wondering. And no that exact thing hasn't happened to me but I've still been…" -he hesitated for a second, "…bullied. Humiliated."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "You? You've been bullied. As if. You are like the last person who I imagine would get bullied."

"No I have for…reasons that I am not comfortable telling. Reasons I rather forget," Albus said looking downward and fiddling with a cufflink on his shirt.

Kurt had finally stopped crying even though his eyes were still red and he still looked upset. "What? It's okay you can tell me. If you understand what I'm going through, then I'll understand you as well."

Albus looked off to the side. "No it's just… it reminds me of things that I want to badly forget and people I want to forget. And I almost did complete forget until I started to talk to you about it. Can you respect that?" Albus said managing to hold back his emotions.

Kurt nodded, "If it really affected you that badly. I wish I could do the same but those people surround me every day and I just can't escape it."

The two of them sat against the lockers, shoulder to shoulder in dead silence for a minute. Albus tried to clear his mind as best as he could. He wanted to help Kurt still but he knew he couldn't do that until his mind wasn't cluttered with all of The Incident events.

Albus finally broke the silence. "But why are people treating you this way Kurt? If they did this, there must be something they don't like about you. "

Kurt gazed at his sadly, with a hint of surprise on his face. "You…you still haven't figured it out."

"Figured out what?"

Kurt turned the other way, "Nothing. I just sort of assumed by now you would know something about me. Something that I haven't directly mentioned to you and that most people figure out from the first glance they see of me."

"Kurt, I don't want to assume things about you. Even if I did and I told you what I assumed, I wouldn't want to offend you."

"Trust me there are worst things that could offend me than you just assuming I act a certain way," Kurt said with a half chuckle.

Albus sighed, "Alright, well you don't have to tell me then. I didn't say why I was bullied so it's completely fair if you don't tell me either."

Kurt looked shocked for a split second but then smiled weakly, "Thanks." There was another moment of silence.

"So, are you going to go back into the gymnasium?" Albus asked hesitantly.

Kurt rolled his eyes, "Ugh don't remind me. I rather not set foot in there right now."

"C'mon, don't you want to show them that you are not as weak as they think you are? That you won't be easily put down and be the victim of this joke."

Kurt slumped down against the locker a little further. "Is that what you did? When you were bullied? Did you not let the bullies put you down?"

Albus sat in thought for a second. "No. I just-never mind what I did. But I regret every moment of not standing up and…" His voice slowly trailed away.

Kurt nodded carefully, "You don't have to talk about it. I get it." He stood up slowly. "I have to go back. I have to show them that I won't be shaken and that this is not going to stop me from being who I am." Kurt's voice cracked a little.

Albus gazed up at him and smiled. "Yes. Go back. Take that crown. Or tiara. Or diadem, or whatever they are giving out as the prize. It looks pretty stupid to me."

Kurt smiled at him gently. "Thanks. Thanks for all of this. If you didn't come out to see me, I probably would have just been a complete mess and would have gone home. This might actually be the worst prom ever but you've shown me that I can try to make the best of the worst things that could happen to me."

Albus jumped up from the ground and faced Kurt. "As a matter of fact, you have shown me the exact same thing too. Kurt if it weren't for you and your friends, I probably wouldn't be enjoying myself as much here in Lima. I could go as far as saying I might have not even been happy."

Kurt immediately rushed towards him and gave him a hug. Albus was a little surprised but hugged him back never less.

While they embraced Kurt whispered in his ear, "I'm glad that I've been able to do that. Make you happy."

Albus grinned briefly and whispered back to him, "And I'm glad that I've met you." Kurt managed to hold back some tears when he said that.

Albus released him and the two of them stared at each other for a moment. For a second Albus was sure Kurt was blushing but he turned away before Albus could get a good look at him again.

"Ready to head back in?" Albus asked Kurt.

"Yes except there is one problem. I'm supposed to dance with the King and there is absolutely no way, not in a million years that I'm dancing with him, Karofsky. And he wouldn't dance with me anyway since he hasn't….well never mind."

"Well if you don't want to dance with him and he doesn't want to dance with you since you obviously don't like each other, then you can just dance by yourself then right?"

"I wish but the first dance is special and anyway I rather dance w…" Kurt started but he fell quiet immediately.

"With who?" Albus asked

"Nothing," Kurt said. "I mean nobody. I have nobody I could dance with anyway."

Albus looked at him strangely but just shrugged his shoulders and continued to talk to him.

"Well then don't dance. They won't make you dance right? There's not much else you can do."

Kurt nodded his head, "You're right. Well I suppose I should go back in. Are you coming?"

Albus chuckled and replied, "Of course. That's what friends are for right? To support one another?"

Kurt looked him in the eye and the corners of his mouth turned up.

"Absolutely."

* * *

><p>As Kurt slowly headed up the stairs to receive the prom queen tiara, so many emotions were running through his head.<p>

But there was one thing he knew for sure.

He was in love with Albus.

He couldn't deny it any longer. He couldn't keep telling himself that it was nothing. That it was just something very little and that he could easily brush it off.

It was real. It was genuine.

Even if nothing would ever happen between them.

Was it even possible to truly love someone after knowing them for such a short period of time? Or even if you barely knew much about their personal life?

He thought back to the first time he met Blaine. There was definitely an immediate connection there before they even really got to know each other. And the first time he saw Albus he was definitely smitten by his presence.

And the last conversation that he had with Albus, definitely didn't make him think otherwise.

Albus lifted his spirits up somehow. Whenever he talked to him, he just felt better inside even if he was very awkward and secretive about his life.

And to know that he'd made Albus feel better about himself too since he arrive here made Kurt feel like he just wanted to burst open with joy.

Kurt finally had made it onto the stage. He turned around and saw everyone looking at him. He couldn't decipher their facial expressions though but Kurt knew that if he could read their thoughts, it would be much different.

But none of their thoughts mattered anyway.

Kurt saw Principal Figgins strutting towards him with the tiara in his hand. He looked very unamused but nonetheless placed the tiara on his head. Kurt looked around at everyone but first at Karofsky. He gave him a deathly stare so Kurt turned and faced the crowd of teens waiting silently for him to say something.

Kurt took a deep breath before he spoke up.

"Eat your heart out Kate Middleton."

Kurt held his breath as he scanned the gymnasium. It was quiet. Suddenly a loud cheer came from the crowd. Kurt turned and saw Albus, who was sitting next to Rachel again, stand up.

"Yeah Kurt!" he yelled and clapped his hands together. Rachel immediately followed suit and got up as well cheering and giving a thumbs up. Slowly everyone else started clapping for him too and Kurt sighed with relief.

He did it. He didn't back down. He took the award with pride and no shame.

Because of Albus.

Kurt turned to where he was and smiled at him, mouthing the words 'thank you'.

Albus cutely smiled back at him and Kurt's heart pounded excitedly in his chest as Albus mouthed 'anytime' back at him.

And that was definitely a sign of being in love.


	27. Impulse

**I'm backkkkkkkk.**

**One again I was too busy to write in the past 3 months with school and stuff but now i finished a semi important chapter and I'm happy.**

**Sorry if this isn't the best written thing in the world. I've struggled writing this a little because...I'm not sure I just have.**

**Once again thanks for sticking by me and appreciate your trust in me to finish this so much. **

**UNRELATED NOTE: I'm pretty sure you have all heard by now about Cory Monteith's death and wow I was so shocked and sadden when I woke up this morning to find this out. RIP CORY you will definitely be missed and Glee will never be the same without you**

**I would have out of respect not have uploaded this chapter today (I was going to do that yesterday but I didn't have time) but since I'm leaving for a month on vacation tomorrow I'm gonna have to do this today anyway.**

**A little reminder: Please keep his family friends and fans in your thoughts prayers (If you believe in God/ a god) and even if you don't, try to spread the joy that he gave to others and remember what he has done for millions of people. **

**Anyway..onward**

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><p>Impulse<p>

_Voicemails (1):_

_Hey Kurt, it's me Blaine. Look I'm sorry about what happened to me at prom. I bet you were pretty disappointed that I got sick and ruined the night for you. Well guess what? I'm going make it up to you. Meet me at Breadstix at 6:00pm sharp tomorrow night. I guess you can call it a make-up date. Also…there is something important I have to tell you, but don't worry about it now. Anyway I love you more than you can imagine and I'll see you then. _

Kurt nervously sat on the leather couch in the living room his house. Tonight was the first night he was planning to tutor Albus. He had never tutored anyone before and of course the first (and most likely only) person he was going to tutor was him. He had carefully prepared notes for all the subjects Albus was in and was now just waiting for him to arrive.

Still as he was waiting, he could not help but wonder why Albus' marks were so low. Did he have trouble adjusting to the environment here or was he just plain stupid?

_No he can't be stupid, he doesn't seem like that at all. Wow I really should have tried to find out more about his life._

That was one thing Kurt was disappointed in himself for; not finding out more about his past and family. Every time he would briefly bring one of those topics up, Albus would answer with no more than one or two words. Kurt decided not to push him further since it was obvious that he didn't want to mention his family at all but now he was just too curious. He would carefully try to ask him more about that today.

Suddenly Kurt heard a loud 'ding dong' and he jumped up from his seat, slightly startled. He took a deep breath, knowing that it was Albus at the door, and rushed to open it for him.

"Oh hey Albus," Kurt said delightfully as he swung the door open.

"Hi Kurt. Thanks so much for this," Albus replied as he stood there casually with his homework binder. He was wearing a nice fitting pair of navy blue pants matched with a blue and white striped cardigan and a dark t shirt. It almost reminded him of what Blaine wore whenever he wasn't wearing his school blazer.

_And Albus definitely looked mighty fine in that outfit._

"No need to say thanks again. I got it the first 100 times you said that," Kurt chuckled as the two of them headed inside.

Kurt led him through the main narrow hallway of his house until they reached his bedroom. He opened the door and showed Albus his room. Kurt made sure it was spick and span before Albus arrived, but since he was quite a neat person, it wasn't too hard to clean up.

Kurt looked at Albus as he glanced around his room, observing the black and white bed sheets and the musical posters that were pasted on one of the walls.

"Wow, this is a nice room. It's very clean; way cleaner than mine," Albus said in awe.

"Yeah I like to keep things nice and tidy," Kurt said coolly, shrugging his shoulders. "It allows you to have a clearer mind and it really helps you focus."

"Maybe I should try cleaning up my room too if it clears your mind," Albus replied. "There's way too much going on up here," he said pointing to his head.

Kurt smiled, "It's worth a shot. Anyway, let's study now, shall we?"

Kurt led him to his desk that was right next to his bedside. He gestured for Albus to sit at the chair in front of it while he pulled up another chair. Albus pulled out his notes and books immediately and Kurt began to teach him, one subject at a time.

As Kurt tried to teach him about things such as algebra and the history of America, he noticed something. Albus did not seem to even know even the basics of what he was learning. It seemed to him that he had absolutely no clue about anything, even simple things like what a variable in math was and who the current President of the United States was.

_The education can't be that much different from here, except maybe American History,_ Kurt thought to himself. _So why is he struggling this hard?_ _And how did he even get to Grade 11 knowing that little?_

Frustrated, Kurt let out an audible sigh. Albus looked up from the math problems he was slowly attempting (and not really comprehending) and glanced at him.

"What's wrong? Am I doing it wrong again?"

_Probably. No, most definitely_, Kurt thought but bit his tongue to keep him from saying that out loud. "No, I'm just tired that's all. We've been sitting here for 2 hours studying and that's more work than my brain can handle."

"But your only teaching, I'm the one doing the work," Albus replied staring down at the papers again. "And I still don't quite get it. Well, mostly mathematics."

Kurt looked at him. He had a sad look on his face as he loudly placed his pencil down on the table. Kurt could tell he was trying really hard to understand the concepts, but something was just not clicking.

Kurt stood up from his chair quickly and faced Albus. "Let's take a break. We've been at it for a while and maybe if we just do something else for a bit, we can focus again."

Albus nodded. "Sure." He got up and slowly began to walk around Kurt's room observing it once more.

Kurt watched him. He was weirdly fascinated by the awkwardness that Albus emitted. He was totally unlike Blaine in that way. Blaine was confident and charismatic while Albus was slightly shy and unsure of himself. Yet Kurt couldn't help but find it attractive.

Kurt decided to break the silence. "So did you struggle a lot at school in England?"

Albus turned towards him and bit his lip nervously. Kurt noticed that he did that whenever he wasn't sure what he was going to say.

"Well I did okay, not terrible, but not particularly good," Albus said to Kurt vaguely.

"Was math and science your worst subjects there too? You seem to not be doing too well in those," Kurt questioned, trying to dig in deeper.

"Uhhh yeah I guess," Albus said, then became silent once more.

Kurt raised an eyebrow, slightly suspicious at why he wasn't saying much about his past school. He was so mysterious, and Kurt sort of liked it, but sometimes it would get too frustrating.

Kurt changed the subject. "So have you kept in touch with your family at all? How often do you phone or email them? You've been away from England for quite a while."

Albus' eyes widened suddenly and he quickly turned away from Kurt. "None of your business," Albus replied harshly.

Kurt was taken aback for a second. But before he could answer back Albus turned around and faced him again.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to say that so intensely," Albus apologized scratching his head. He sighed, plopping down on the edge of Kurt's bed.

Kurt gazed at him, wondering why he was acting so strange today. He could sense something was wrong and he wanted to find out what was up. Kurt thought they were good enough friends by now so maybe he could get some answers out of him.

Kurt moved across the room at sat down on the bed next to him. His hand briefly brushed against the side of his leg as he sat and his heart pounded hard for a second before he swiftly tucked his hand to his side.

"Albus," Kurt started. "What's wrong? Please don't try to deny that anything is wrong because I have a special sixth sense and I know when someone is not happy."

Albus kept silent and fidgeted with the edge of his cardigan's sleeve.

Kurt continued, "Look, when you came out and talked to me after what had happened at Prom, I was really grateful. I was feeling absolutely horrible and you made me feel so much better about myself. It was nice that you understood what I was going through and maybe I can help you get through whatever is bothering you."

"I doubt it," was Albus' curt reply.

"Try me. I never though you would have been bullied before but you proved me wrong. Just tell me something. Anything."

Albus looked off distantly. Kurt held his breath, wondering if he was going to tell him anything. Albus quickly snapped out of the brief trance he was in, and adjusted his body to directly face Kurt.

"Well….have you ever wished… that you could see someone again….even though you have a gut feeling that you never will?" Albus asked taking large hesitant pauses between words.

It was Kurt's turn to fall silent for a while. Albus looked at him waiting to see if he would answer. Kurt finally opened his mouth to speak. "Yeah. My mother. Except there's no gut feeling. I know she's gone for good and I mostly likely won't be seeing her again."

Albus looked shocked for a second. "Your mother, she's dead?"

"Yeah. She died when I was about 6 years old. It was tough being without her for the longest time but now I've accepted that she won't be coming back and I can't keep holding on forever to someone who will never see me again," Kurt replied. A few distant memories of his mom flooded into his mind and he started to feel a little sad again.

"Wow. I'm so sorry. I could never imagine that happening to me," Albus said as he shuffled a little closer to him. Kurt discreetly noticed that their elbows were almost touching and was surprised at how close together they were. "My mom and dad actually almost died multiple times when they were teenagers but ever since they had me and my siblings, they've been safe and nowhere near dying."

Kurt was surprised that he talked about his family in depth more. However he casually continued to talk to him. "You're lucky they're still alive. Cancer is a bitch. That's what my mom died of. I wish there was a cure."

Albus nodded. "You must miss her a lot still, right?"

"Of course. And you probably miss your parents too. After all, you've been away for almost a month from them. How come you are so worried that you will never see them again though? You are leaving once the school year is done right?" Kurt's heart dropped as he said those words. He didn't want Albus leaving him for good sometime in the future.

"Yeah I guess so," Albus barely whispered. Kurt decided to not ask any further questions. He concluded that Albus was just homesick and today it was affecting him a little more than usual. However Kurt still had a little bit of a gut feeling that there was more to that story.

Kurt decided to break the silence once more, "So is that all? Should we get back to studying or…"

"Well," Albus interrupted Kurt before he could finish speaking. "There is one more little thing. Have you ever had to keep something a secret because you are afraid of what someone would think of you?"

Kurt held his breath. The question spoke directly to him and the current situation he was in. Could Albus be implying what he wanted him to imply?

_No it's probably something else, he's not gay, he can't be, stop dreaming,_ Kurt repeated in his mind.

But oh, how he yearned for it to be true.

"Well," Kurt started to speak carefully, trying to choose his words wisely. "I definitely had to keep a secret because I was afraid of what someone might think. I was afraid that it would jeopardize my friendship with them." Kurt was amazed at how Albus' question was so relatable to him in all the wrong ways. It felt weird pretending to speak in past tense when it was really meant to be spoken in present tense.

Albus nodded. "Yeah exactly. Except I have told one person, but they knew about this secret from the start so they believed me instantly."

Kurt curiously raised an eyebrow. He didn't want to jump to assumptions but he was aching to know whether he could be gay or not. And who was this one person who knew his secret? Curiosity was running through every fibre of his being.

There was an awkward silence as Kurt was too absorbed in his thoughts, he forget to answer back. Albus broke through it though.

"So, you really do understand what I'm going through?"

Kurt closed his eyes for a second then slowly opened them. "Yes and I'm willing to tell my secret to you. I-I-I really feel that you need to know by now and that if I don't tell you now, I'll regret it for a very long time."

Kurt had it all mapped out in his head. He would just tell him that he was gay. He would keep it short and simple and hopefully it wouldn't complicate anything. But it felt like telling a white lie. He couldn't just say he was gay and not tell him that he was in love with him.

But something was urging him to be honest. His mind was screaming at him to go with his gut. Words flooded the caverns of his brain.

_Just do it. He could be gay. There is a chance. It's not like there is no chance at all. If you are going to be his friend anyway you have to tell the truth. You cannot hide it anymore. _

_You cannot hide it anymore._

Kurt didn't even know what he was trying to hide anymore. His love, his sexuality, his boyfriend, his life. It was all just one giant blurred line.

Kurt once again almost forgot continue to speak. It wasn't till Albus touched him on the shoulder he woke up from his prison of thoughts.

"Are you okay? You seem kind of dazed. You were going to tell me this secret?" Albus looked him straight in the eye. His gorgeous hazel eyes peered into Kurt's and Kurt's heart fluttered a little. His hand was still lightly grasping his shoulder and their faces were inches away from each other.

_There is a chance. No there isn't. He's perfectly straight. He won't love you back. But maybe that's his secret. He's gay. NO._

It was déjà vu all over again. Kurt almost began to tremble from the overwhelming battle that was going on in his mind. He couldn't take it anymore. He just had to be honest and tell the truth. It was going to spill sometime anyway so he might as well tell it now.

"Well," Kurt started to talk quietly. "I should have told you this earlier but I'm going to tell you now and-"Kurt suddenly choked on the air and stopped speaking.

"What?" Albus crooned with his soft British accent. He scooted over ever so slightly. Kurt held his breath. Why was he doing this to him?

That was it. Kurt couldn't control his feelings anymore. He just needed to get it over with. If he didn't like him that was that and if he did, then that would be amazing. Nothing worse could happen.

Kurt took a deep breath. "I-I…" he spluttered unsure of himself for a second. Was he really going to do this?

Then suddenly, his brain switched off and his emotions took over. Kurt emptied his mind instantly and he leaned forward towards Albus and kissed him right on the mouth.

_Oh God what am I doing? Shit shit shit NO._ Kurt wanted to stop but somehow he couldn't. His lips had a fresh minty taste to them and it satisfied every bone in his body. Somehow Albus hadn't pulled away yet, however he didn't kiss him back one bit. It puzzled him

After about 2 seconds Albus turned away and got up. Kurt's heart was racing like never before and he swayed nervously on the spot. What had he done? How come he was acting like this? What was Albus going to say?

Finally Albus spoke up quietly. "I should have known."

Kurt mustered up all his courage to reply back. "Yes you should have known that I was gay. Look I'm sor…"

"I'm an idiot," Albus said interrupting his apology. His voice was low and angry.

"No you aren't. It's all my fault. I should have told you as soon as we got to know each other. I should have told you that I-" Kurt's voice choked and tears sprung up in his eyes.

"That you what? That you like me more than a friend? That you are fucking gay?" Albus said loudly and harshly in a manner Kurt had never heard him speak in before. "I really should have just assumed you were gay. It's written all over you."

As soon as he spoke those words, Kurt felt as if Albus just stabbed him in the heart. And to make it worse it was all his fault. He shouldn't have done that. He shouldn't have kissed him. He thought he could control himself but in the end, it didn't work at all.

Suddenly Albus started panicking. He hysterically started to pack all his belongings and was muttering to himself. Kurt could catch a few words he was saying.

"I can't…No this can't be happening again…not again…oh God."

Again? Kurt let that sink into his brain for a moment. This had happened before? He vaguely wondered what had happened in the past that was similar to this.

Kurt wiped a tear from his face as he tried to apologize again. "I'm so sorry Albus. Honestly. Please forgive. I was being an impulsive idiot and…"

"Just shut up."

Kurt almost gasped as Albus said those words to him. He felt all the work he had put into this friendship was slowly collapsing and crumbling into dust.

But was it really even a friendship? Or just a one sided one?

"I've got to go now," Albus continued. "Kurt I don't want you to speak with me ever again. Or even associate with me. I can't afford this to happen again. I just need to be by myself."

"Albus I'm so sor-"

But before Kurt could finish speaking Albus had slammed his room door, and had left. Kurt put his hand to his mouth trying to muffle the sobs that were coming from him.

Questions were spinning through his mind once more. What had he done? Why did he act like that? He should have just kept it a secret it was safer. What happened to his lovely plan of 'I'll just become Albus' best friend'? Now he wasn't sure if Albus even liked him anymore as a friend. How could anyone like their friend after they impulsively kissed them?

Even worse thoughts leaped into his mind. Could Albus be homophobic? Was that why he got so mad? He really hoped he wasn't. Albus was nice, until a few minutes ago. But he had a perfectly good reason to be mad.

Kurt slowly made his way across his room to wear his phone was charging. Every part of him ached with sadness and his eyes were still damp with tears. As soon as he unlocked it he noticed something curious. A voice mail from Blaine yesterday evening.

Kurt played in back and listened to it. As Blaine's cheerful voice spoke through, his heart sank deeper than it did before. Blaine had asked him out to dinner. Tonight. Kurt looked at the time and it was already 7:30pm. How come he did not notice it at all in the past 24 hours?

_Shit, _was all Kurt could think. He mind was even working anymore. How could he lose a friend and miss a date on the same day? He felt like throwing up. No, he _wanted_ to throw up. He was definitely the worst friend and boyfriend in the world that day. He felt as though he betray Blaine by putting Albus first and it killed him to think of what resulted because of that.

Kurt moved back to his bed and immediately crumpled onto it. He didn't even care anymore for now. He just wanted to fall asleep and pretending like nothing even happened. But as soon as he would wake up in the morning, reality would sink in and it would be painful for him to even breathe.

How could he screw up everything so easily? How could he be ecstatic one moment and depressed the next?

He didn't want to know. He wished he didn't know.

But deep down he did know. And he regretted every bit of it.


	28. The Incident (part 1)

**Hello again. I wish Grade 12 wasn't so crazy filled with homework and projects, which is the reason I've only finished this now, 4 months later. Sorry about that again. Anyway, I've decided to split this up into two parts, or else this would take me a year to upload again. But now it's here, and I hope you like it. Thanks to any followers who've stuck with this and haven't given up on me.**

* * *

><p>The Incident (part 1)<p>

Albus slammed the door as hard as he could. He breathed heavily trying to calm himself, but it was not working at all. What had just happened, shouldn't have happened. And he was kicking himself because he should have seen it coming, but he didn't.

And things were coming around full circle. And it was happening to him again. In this foreign place where deep down, he didn't really want to be in. He just wanted to be back home, back at Hogwarts finishing up his 6th year, and living the life that he was born into.

Albus rushed down the stairs where he saw Finn, Kurt's step brother sitting on the couch, watching what he learned was called American football. Finn saw him making his way to the door and turned towards him.

"You're leaving already?" he asked in a friendly but confused tone.

Albus hesitated, thinking of what to say, so he wouldn't have to say the truth. "Uh… yeah I'm not feeling well so I just decided that I should go home and get some rest."

Finn just shrugged and turned back to the television. "Well see you at school tomorrow I guess if you're feeling better."

Albus mumbled a 'see you' and quickly head out the door. Right, there was school tomorrow. He really didn't want to go to school because that meant seeing Kurt and having to confront him and he didn't want to deal with that. Not with all the bad memories he was repressing flooding his brain after what had just happened.

_The Incident. _He shivered, as he walked trying not to think of it as he walked. What had just happened in Kurt's bedroom was so similar to what had happened in the Gryffindor Common room that one fateful night. Albeit, it wasn't the exact same, but it was enough to make him want never want to talk to Kurt again, just for bringing up those horrible memories. For possibly putting him in a situation where he would be continuously judged for hanging out with him. His vision started to blur, and his head pounded vigorously as the memories slowly returned to him.

* * *

><p><em>Almost 2 years earlier<em>

It was the beginning of year 5 for Albus at Hogwarts. Normally Albus was pretty excited for school but this year he was more nervous than usual. Fifth year was an important year for all wizards, with O.W.L.S happening that year. Albus wanted to do good this year, without using the 'I'm Harry Potter's son' excuse when he didn't finish his homework in time or when he did worse than usual on an assignment.

As soon as Albus claimed his bed in the Gryffindor common room, he walked around looking for his friend Ethan. He hadn't seen him all summer sadly and he couldn't wait to catch up with him.

Ethan was Albus' best friend. Well technically, his only real friend since Albus never exactly liked the kids who hung around him because Harry Potter was his father (as did the rest of his siblings). Ethan was born to Muggle parents yet had wizarding abilities, or in more insulting terms, a Mudblood. That was what some of the older, meaner Slytherin kids called him. Nearly everyone in Slytherin was pure blood or at least half-blood so they looked down upon kids like Ethan. But if it wasn't for those kids who he saw picking on him, Albus would have never befriended him.

Albus' still remembered the day like it was yesterday. It was first year and one of the first days of the school year. A group of second and third year Slytherin boys had surrounded Ethan and were picking on him.

"_He's such a little squirt. Is he really 11 year's old? He looks like he's 5!"_

"_But you know what's even funnier? He's a Mudblood!"_

"_Mudbloods are disgusting. My father still loathes them even though some of them helped save Hogwarts when he was in school."_

"_Mudblood squirt! Mudblood squirt!" one of them chanted. _

_Albus saw Ethan curl up into a little ball on the floor. "Stop it already. I just want to go back to the Common Room." A single tear streamed down his face._

"_You're in Gryffindor right? How come you aren't brave then? Must be the weak Muggle blood that you have in you."_

_Albus couldn't take it any further. He rushed up to the group of boys and pointed his wand at them._

"_Stop taunting him. Let him go!" Albus shouted as his arm with the wand shook like a tree branch in the wind._

"_Or what Potter? Your famous daddy will pop out of nowhere and turn us into dust?" one of the boys said snickering._

"_Well…no but I will," Albus taunted back his voice shaking a little._

_They all turned away from him and faced him laughing. One of the boys released their grip on Ethan and stepped forward. "Yeah okay go ahead. Hex us because you being a first year student makes you know so much about casting spells." They all laughed rowdily again. _

_Albus saw that Ethan was free now but tried not to stare at him too long. Instead using his wand he gestured for him to run, while mouthing 'go'. He tried to make it seem like he was going to do a spell._

_The Slytherin boys were already pulling out their wands and pointing them at him. "Wow Potter impressive," one of them mocked again._

_Just as Albus was sure they were going to fire, he saw Ethan dash out from behind them and he started to run as fast as he could past Albus._

"_Yes!" Albus said out loud as he scampered away. The Slytherin boys gasped and shouted and as they were distracted for a second, Albus ran away as fast he could as well, not turning back._

"_Damn you Potter come back here," one boy said while Albus heard footstep behind him. Pushing his legs to the limit, Albus turned around the hallway corner as fast as he could and he saw Ethan running just ahead of him._

_As the two of them continued to run through the halls of Hogwarts, Ethan finally got tired and stopped running. Albus followed suit and stopped as well. The two of them were panting loudly and stopped and stared at each other._

"_They…aren't going…to come back…right?" Ethan said between breathes._

"_I hope not," Albus wheezed. He had never run that hard in a long time._

"_I'm Ethan by the way, and thanks for helping me." He smiled at Albus genuinely and straightened up his posture._

"_Albus," Albus said sticking out his hand. Ethan hesitantly took it and shook it gently._

"_So you are Harry Potter's son right?" Ethan asked him. Albus remembered that even though he was born to Muggles, he had still been educated about the basics of the wizarding world before he arrived at Hogwarts._

_Albus sighed. He hated how everyone stated that whenever they met him. "Yeah but I don't think I'm anything like him."_

"_Well, he was brave and stopped the bad guys and you did the same," Ethan smiled awkwardly shoving his hands in his pockets. _

_Albus pondered on that for a moment. He remembered that he had been so afraid to be sorted into Slytherin, after all, his middle name was Severus. And when he was sorted into Gryffindor, he was relief but he questioned the sorting, he never imagined himself as brave. _

"_Well thank you for that. I was kind of wondering why I was sorted into Gryffindor and what just happened makes me feel a lot better," Albus replied._

_Ethan scoffed, "You were wondering why you were worthy of being in Gryffindor? If you didn't think you belonged there, then I definitely don't know why I was sorted into there."_

Still to this day, Albus wondered the exact same thing. Ethan was not outgoing at all, was quite quiet around most people and was afraid to do most things. But the sorting hat usually always had a reason and Albus knew there was definitely a reason behind that.

Since Year One, Albus and Ethan were inseparable and still in Year Five they were close friends. Even with all the imposters who tried to befriend Albus' so they could get in the Potter's inner circle, Albus knew that Ethan wasn't one of those fakes and he was the only person outside his family he would talk to about his problems.

As Albus walked around the common room he saw Ethan's familiar slim and pale face sitting on a couch by himself reading some sort of book. As if on cue, Ethan looked up as Albus approached him and grinned.

"Hey buddy," Albus said happily.

"Hey Al," Ethan said back. "Are you ready for fifth year?"

As soon as Ethan said that, Albus felt instantly relieved. Even if fifth year was going to be harder than before, knowing that his best friend would be alongside him through everything would make it easier.

"Absolutely."

As the months progressed, it seemed as if nothing had changed even though everyone was a year older. Albus still chatted with his cousins, Rose and Hugo on a regular basis, as well as with his brother and sister, James and Lily. He also spent most of his time with Ethan, except when they didn't have the same classes. Everything was going better than Albus expected his fifth year to go.

Then it happened. Out of nowhere, completely blindsiding him.

The Incident.

* * *

><p>Albus remembered it was a chilly December, and a late Saturday evening. Albus was sitting by himself in the Gryffindor Common Room trying to review and practice some spells that he had just learnt recently. He was slightly frustrated, but at the same time determined to get the spells right and do well this year.<p>

Then out of the corner of his eye, Albus saw Ethan come downstairs from the rooms where they slept upstairs. Ethan awkwardly waved his hand up.

"Hey Albus. What are you doing up so late? I came to see if you would ever go up to bed, or just stay down here all night."

Albus snorted. "Of course I'm going to go up soon. I was just trying to practice this particular spell before I do so."

Ethan plopped down on a sofa next to Albus. "Well, I'm just going to wait till you're done then. Keep you company I guess," he said shrugging.

"Sure," Albus replied casually. He turned back to a dirty cup that was sitting on a wooden coffee table and pointed his wand at it.

"_Scourgify_," Albus whispered. The cup instantly turned a shining silver, removing any grim that was previously on it. Albus grinned and spun towards Ethan.

"Look how nice this cup is now. I swear it hasn't been cleaned in years," Albus said happily and waited for Ethan to reply. Instead Ethan just stared at him strangely, like he was lost in his thoughts. Albus frowned, wondering why he wasn't replying.

"Uh…Ethan?" Albus repeated himself again.

Ethan suddenly snapped out of his trance like state, and nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah that's nice."

"Are you okay? You seem kind of out of it." Albus asked curiously.

Ethan didn't say anything back for a second. Instead he nervously adjusted himself on the sofa, and took a deep breath.

"Can we just talk for a second? I-I have something to tell you."

Puzzled, Albus sat down beside him. "Of course, what's wrong?"

Ethan fidgeted nervously with a loose string on the hoodie he was wearing and then turned his pale blue eyes towards Albus'.

"Look I just…I don't know how to say this properly…but let me explain. Since I started coming here, I've felt great. You know that before I came here, the other Muggle kids didn't exactly like me, because I was different. Because I could do magic and it freaked them out."

Albus nodded. Ethan had already told him about his life before Hogwarts, and how it was traumatizing and lonely, not knowing why he was different because no one accepted that magic was real. Albus wondered why he was telling him this again, but he continued to listen patiently.

"But then I came here and met people just like me, and even though it was hard at first being a Muggle born who could do magic, and being teased for it, it was a lot better than before. Plus, I made friends and met people like you."

"But…" Ethan continued, inhaling deeply, "I've been feeling different again. And not for the same reason as before."

Albus frowned once more. "What? Are those Slytherin guys at it again? If they are I'll…"

"No, it has nothing to do with them," Ethan said quietly. "It has to do with me, and who I am." There was a loud pause and Ethan breathed deeply again.

Ethan carefully spoke his next few sentences. "Ever since the beginning of this year, I've been feeling attracted to…" Ethan paused, gulping before he continued, "…to guys. The way I should be attracted to girls. I don't know why but I think it's just who I am, and I just can't help it."

Albus' eyes widened. "What?" he said, thinking he was saying it in his brain, but instead he whispered it out loud.

Ethan spoke up again, a little sharper. "Look Albus I'm telling you this because you are my closest friend and I don't know who else to tell it to. Except…"

"Except what?"

"Except, that is the exact dilemma," Ethan said his words barely audible. "When the only person you can tell this to is also the exact person you wish you didn't have to tell them anything. That's the problem. But… I need to get this off my chest."

"I don't understand…"

"I-I think I'm sort of in love with you… Albus," Ethan said looking him right in the eye. He suddenly leaned over, placing his hand delicately on his thigh and pressed his lips to Albus' mouth.

Albus didn't even have time to react. As their lips touched for a second or so, Albus felt a warmth creep up his cheeks. Ethan parted from him gently and immediately looked towards the ground. He put his head in his hands quietly murmured, "I'm sorry. It's just I've known you for so long and I guess that was enough time to make me feel this way for you."

Albus got up quickly and started to pace around the room for a bit. He stood by the fireplace, watching the sparks fly around the logs and listening to the soothing crackling of the wood. He was absolutely shocked. Never in a million years would he have though his best friend would be gay, let alone in love with him. Albus didn't even know any gay people before. He may have heard rumours and bits and pieces of facts about what gay people were like, but he always brushed them aside, since he didn't really care about those kinds of things. However he did know that being gay was not the most accepted thing in the wizarding community, and that the number of openly gay wizards or witches was very miniscule.

Yet somehow, he wasn't particularly too upset about it. A bit uncomfortable and very shocked, but he was somewhat okay with it. Albus was surprised with himself. He never thought he would be fine with his best friend being in love with him. However, he did have to be honest that he didn't feel the same way. Finally, Albus found the right words to say to Ethan.

"Look," Albus started awkwardly walking back towards Ethan, "to be honest I'm still trying to process this, but there are two things I know for sure. One, that I don't think anything will happen between us…."

"I knew you were going to say that. I'm sorry I put you in this situation, I'm an idiot…"

Albus sat back down again, "No. It's okay. I know what you're thinking. This is going to change everything. You think that I'm not going to talk to you again because it will ruin our friendship, because it will be awkward, but you're wrong. That's the second thing I'm sure about. I will still be your friend. I will still be there for you. I just probably won't kiss you, that's all."

Ethan smiled at him, "Thanks for that. But I hope you'll understand that it will be hard for me. Because I really am genuinely fond of you, in a way that is more than you just being my best friend." His voice grew quiet again.

Albus patted him on the back, "Well…I understand. And I wish that I could feel whatever you felt, but I can't. I'm sorry. But I'll always be there if you need me. Just as I've been doing for over the last 5 years." Albus gave Ethan a hug of reassurance, and Ethan wrapped his arms around him as well. They sat there for a moment, then Albus got up once more and started to pack up his spell books that were strewn across the floor.

Ethan looked at him curiously, "Albus, can I ask you do to one more thing?"

"What is it?"

"Can, can you please not tell anyone else. Not even your siblings or your cousins. I'm just not ready to trust anyone else. Heck, I don't even trust my own parents yet."

Albus nodded and chuckled, "I really wasn't planning to tell anyone else. I mean, I don't want to imagine how they would react to that. I'm surprised at my own reaction right now."

Ethan simply just looked at him. "I want to say the same thing, but deep down, I'm not surprised at your reaction at all."

The two of them just stared at each other for a moment. Then Albus bowed his head and gestured at the staircase. "I'm off to bed. Are you going up again?"

"Yeah, in a few minutes. I just need a moment."

"Well, goodnight then," Albus said as he jogged towards the stairs.

"Goodnight. And really, thanks for being so understanding," Ethan said as his thin lips curved up into a smile.

* * *

><p><em>Present day<em>

Albus wished it had ended there. Albus accepting Ethan's secret, and him eventually moving on from his crush on Albus, and the two of them continuing to be friends for the rest of their lives.

But it didn't. Everything just went downhill from there. Albus started to breath hard and his eyes started to water.

Of course James ruined everything. Of course James had to have been a peeping tom and have to have seen it. And not even the whole situation, just the kiss only.

That was the real incident. Not the kiss that Albus and Ethan had shared, but the fact James saw it and couldn't keep his mouth shut, making it the worst year of his life.


	29. The Incident (part 2)

**Surprise! I updated this 20 million months later! I bet you forgot what happened. I almost forgot too, until I had a dream where I was like "I should update my fanfiction story" (seriously). And then I wrote most of this chapter over the last 2 days.**

**So if you are wondering where this is going there will be one more flashback chapter (the next chapter) and then we will fly back to Lima Ohio and catch up there and if everything stays on track, there will be 7 ish more chapters to this story. (In case you are wondering). Hopefully I'll try to update a few more times this summer, if I'm not busy.**

**Anyway enjoy this chapter and tell me what you think! Sorry for not updating in forever again! And thanks to all who are still sticking with me!**

* * *

><p>The Incident (part 2)<p>

_About 2 years earlier_

The next 3 weeks after Ethan told Albus his secret were pretty normal. Albus continued to go to classes until it was Christmas break, then he spent some time with his family until it was time to go back to school again.

It was only 2 days back from Christmas break when Albus began to notice people were acting a bit strange.

One day as Albus was walking to his potions class, he noticed a few Slytherin boys snickering as staring at him. At first, Albus just brushed it off, but later that day, he noticed the same group of boys looking at him funny and whispering to each other as he walked past them.

Then as he was heading back to the Common Room by himself later that evening, the group of Slytherin boys started to creep up behind him.

"Hey Potter. So I've heard you've been unable to keep your tongue to yourself."

Albus pretended he ignored them and keep walking; a little faster this time.

Another boy taunted from behind again. "So Potter how come you aren't walking back with Ethan? Having a little domestic fight are you?"

"Yeah I though you two were madly in love, snogging each other in the Common Room every night."

A warmth crept up the back of Albus' neck and his heart started to pound furiously. _How could they know what happened? No this is not possible._

Albus immediately then started to run. The Slytherin boys started to yell at him but didn't proceed any further. Albus finally reached the Gryffindor Common room and said the password, then quickly entered the portal.

Albus slowly paced around the Common Room, taking deep breathes and swearing to himself silently. How would they know what happened? Who could have told them about the kiss? None of them could have been there at the time. And why would they assume he was dating him? The prospect of them knowing these things frightened him. What happened between Ethan and him was private and never should have gotten out.

The next day, the taunting continued once more. In between classes, during classes and even at lunch the Slytherin boys continued to tease him, as well as Ethan. At lunch one time while Albus was sitting next to Ethan in the Great Hall, an older boy from Slytherin came up behind the two of them, grabbed their necks and slammed their heads into their plates of food. Albus gasped as he slowly raised his head back up, with

"Gay," he chuckled and walked off.

Rose, who was sitting across from them, stared at them with her mouth gaped open. "Oh my God, are you okay?" she asked as she grabbed her wand and immediately cast a spell that clean the mushed up food off their faces.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Albus mumbled looking across to Ethan but as soon as he turned his head, Ethan had already gotten up and started to follow the Slytherin boy. Albus' eyes widened and Rose's eyes widened too.

Ethan immediately grabbed one the boy's arm and yelled at him.

"Excuse me, what do you think that you're doing?" Ethan slim frame straightened suddenly.

The Slytherin boy smirked, "What do you mean? I was just doing what I think you and your little Potter boy deserved."

"And what exactly did we do that deserved a face full of food?"

"You know exactly what you are doing…fag."

Ethan sharply drew his breathe and pulled his wand out. The Slytherin boy immediately followed suit.

"Isn't that what you are? A fag? A little wimpy gay boy? Both you and Potter over there, snogging each…"

"You know what," Ethan said raising his voice the loudest Albus ever had heard him. Almost everyone in the Great Hall was watching the two of them now. "Maybe I am gay. No, scratch that, I am gay. Yes I just said it, I'm gay. But you know what? I do not give a house elf's shit about what you think. And I want you and your gutless friends to just leave me and Albus alone. Especially Albus because he has nothing to do with this. "

"Not from what I've heard," the Slytherin boy said and immediately hexed him.

Ethan flew back onto the ground and everyone gasped. Ethan screeched and Albus noticed that a tail was slowly growing from under his robe. The Slytherin boy walked up to him one last time and kicked him in the face for good measure, then smirked once more. Albus and Rose quickly rushed up to Ethan and at the same Slytherin boy quickly rushed away.

"Oh my God Ethan we need to get you to Madame Pomfrey," Rose said horrified. Ethan just groaned back. I can't believe he did that to you." Albus just stared at him, still in shock over what he did.

Suddenly one of the Professors, Professor Nix, trotted over towards the three of them. "What going on here…oh my goodness is that a tail?"

"Yes can you get him to Madame Pomfrey now? He's in great pain from the extension of his tail bone and he needs some medicine and someone to fix this."

The Professor nodded and helped Ethan up slowly and the three of them headed over to the hospital wing. Ethan moaned in pain as he walked slowly, leaning on Professor Nix for support, and seemed quite delirious to his surroundings.

Albus felt sick to his stomach as he headed there. He couldn't believe that Ethan just said all that and stood up to the Slytherin boy. After the last few weeks of keeping this secret, Ethan just decided to come out and say the truth, in front of hundreds of people and the older Slytherin bully. Whether they heard him or not was a different story, but Albus was quite sure that many people heard what happened.

Except before what had happened just now, there were kids who knew about what happened between him and Ethan. And it puzzled and frightened him. He saw how Ethan was treated just now, and he was afraid he'd experienced this terrible treatment as well.

On the way to the hospital wing, Professor Nix asked what had happened, since he missed the whole incident. Rose explain very thoroughly and angrily, while Albus, still in shock, nodded occasionally at the appropriate times.

"I just don't understand why he did that to him," Rose ranted. "It makes absolutely no sense why someone would hurt another based on their sexuality. What makes Ethan any different from anyone else? I mean I had no clue he was gay until 5 minutes ago but that doesn't change my opinion of him at all. He is a really lovely and kind person. And why should it make any difference to that thug from Slytherin. Also I don't understand what Albus has to do with this? Albus do you know why he slammed your head into your plate? Albus? Al…are you even listening?"

Albus blinked a few times and turned to his cousin. "Yeah, but it's just a lot to process right now. And I don't know why I was involved," Albus replied as convincingly as he could.

"Whatboouttme?" Ethan's small voice said from behind the Professor.

"Nothing. Just don't talk. It will make your headache worst," Rose sharply told him. Ethan mumbled then winced as he continued to walk silently.

Professor Nix nodded. "Well, I guess once we get Ethan to Madame Pomfrey, I'll go talk to those boys. They will definitely be punished in some way."

"Good," Rose said loudly. "Those jerks deserve whatever you give to them." Albus nodded silently but his focus was on Ethan pale and pained face. His blonde hair was tousled wildly and he saw tears forming behind his normally bright blue eyes. It saddened him to see his friend like this. But what really was affecting him was the fact that somehow these Slytherin boys knew about what had happen. He was perplexed and he couldn't think of how they knew about this. Anger was bubbling inside him and he wished he could let it all out, but after seeing Ethan like this, he knew better than that.

So for now Albus walked to the hospital wing in silence, while Rose continued to rant about how horrible the Slytherin boys were and how she wished people could grow up and not pick on other people who have nothing to do with their lives.

By the next day, Ethan was all better and out of the hospital wing. However, even though physically he was okay (other than a bruise on his forehead) mentally he was still quite shaken up, even though he tried his best to act like everything was okay. Albus could see the misery behind his eyes. He was definitely not the same person as he was just 2 days before, and it almost seemed like a Dementor had sucked all the joy away from him.

One night, the two of them were sitting in the common room together. It was late and it was once again empty, except for the two of them. Tension filled the air, as Albus had not spoken to Ethan all day, except for a homework question or two during class. Albus was pretending like he was reading his textbook for Defense Against the Dark Arts, but really he just wanted to talk to Ethan about what happened. Albus shut the book and turned to Ethan who was sitting across from him.

"Look, can we talk about what happened," Albus asked him quietly.

Ethan looked up from his book that he was reading, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Albus could hear a hint of anger behind his voice, and that worried him a bit.

"Okay well first I think you were so,_so_ brave to stand up to that Slytherin guy like that. I could have never have done that."

"And you didn't," Ethan said sharply. Albus was slightly taken aback at him, but decide to continue talking.

"And…and I'm sorry about that. It's just I was afraid…"

"Afraid of being called a fag?"

There was an awkward pause as Albus stared at Ethan, once again shocked.

"Well maybe…I don't know. I honestly don't know," Albus said a little louder. "I was just a bit stunned that's all. But I just want you to know that I'm so grateful that you stood up to them for us."

"Us?" Ethan said piercingly. "I was standing up for myself because I didn't want them to think I was a weak being who could easily be pushed around."

"But you told them to leave me out of it," Albus said.

"Only because there didn't need to be more drama and I didn't want any more people to get hurt."

"You didn't want me to get hurt?"

Ethan glanced at him straightforwardly, "I wouldn't wish for anyone to have to go through all the crap I'm going to have to go through now."

"What do you mean?"

"You think they are going to bug me once and leave me alone forever? Albus, this is only the beginning of the crap that I'm going to have to face. Everyone knows I'm gay now. It's the talk of the school, what happened yesterday. Everyone keeps looking at me weird, like all of a sudden I'm a different person. I'm pretty sure there has never been an openly out gay student in Hogwarts ever. And of course, that person happens to be me and now."

"Ethan, you know not everyone in the school is going to hate you…"

"But there are people who hate me. And I don't even know why. It's not like I did anything to them. Like that group of year 5 and 6 Slytherin boys. And even though that one guy got detention for a week because of what he did to me, do you think once he finishes detention, he will suddenly change and start treating me like I'm royalty or something? No, he will probably continue to taunt me and threaten me every single day and no one will do much about it, because I go to a school with magic, so verbal and physical threats and beatings are nothing compared to what people here can actually do. I've been already taunted for being a Mudblood and for being shorter than the average boy, but I'm not sure if I can keep on acting like these things don't hurt me. " A tear rolled down from his eye, and Ethan quickly wiped it away

Albus was stunned. He had never seen Ethan get so emotional while talking before. He immediately got up from the chair he was sitting on and went and sat down next to him on the couch.

"Ethan it's okay, you can stand up to them," Albus said while rubbing his back. "Look what you did in the Great Hall, if you just keep doing that…"

"The thing is I can't though. I did it once already and came out to the entire school while doing it and it was the hardest thing I have ever done."

"And the bravest thing I have ever witnessed," Albus said softly grabbing Ethan's hand unintentionally. Ethan turned at looked at him and Albus realized what he was doing and quickly released his hand from Ethan's.

"Sorry," Albus murmured. Ethan simply nodded and looked down at his lap.

"There's one more thing Albus. You know ever since we came back from Christmas break, that's when they started taunting me for being gay. Did…did you tell someone about..."

"No, I swear on Dumbledore's grave that I didn't tell anyone. They have all been calling me names too you know."

"Dumbledore's grave? Since when did that become a saying?" Ethan said, smiling slightly.

Albus almost smiled too. He was glad that somehow cheered him up. "Seriously, though, trust me, I didn't tell anyone."

"You are one of the only people I trust, you know, I was just making sure."

"But then who did? No one else was there, at least I don't remember seeing anyone …"

"I don't know. I really have no idea," Ethan said sadly.

_2 weeks later_

Albus couldn't believe it. He was still in denial, as he stood at the Entrance Hall watching Ethan grab the last bit of his possessions and put them together. He couldn't accept that he was leaving to go to another wizarding school in France because he couldn't take it anymore here. Ethan wasn't the same person as he was before and Albus could see that roaming through the halls of Hogwarts how frightened he was walking past certain people. He had become very tired lately as well, and he knew that it was taking an emotional toll on him. It angered him greatly and he wished that there was something he could do to stop it. He didn't want to lose the only true friend he had ever had, and it disheartened him.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Albus asked him again. "No one has hurt you since what happened in the Great Hall and…"

"Albus," Ethan said calmly. "I already told the Headmaster and my parents that I want to be transferred to another school. It's a little too late now. And yes, no one has hurt me physically, but I've been teased constantly every day by those shithead Slytherin's, and sure I just ignore it or try to say something witty back but I just can't do this for the rest of the year anymore. I just want to go someplace where I don't have to worry as much about what people will say, and maybe not come out at the wrong time. I want to have control over it this time."

"But you chose to do what you did in the Great Hall…"

"After they kept accusing me of being gay, I didn't really have a choice. Well maybe I did…but in that moment I felt like that was the only thing I could do. Just tell people who I really was."

"And you absolutely shouldn't regret it at all," Albus said moving closer to him. "You stood up to him something that I was afraid to do at that time. You were brave and courageous, you showed everyone what it means to be a Gryffindor. What a Gryffindor is really like."

Ethan smiled shyly. "You remember when we first met, how you saved me from those Slytherin bullies, who I think were mostly the same guys who are after me now?"

Albus nodded, "Of course!"

"Well that was where I first learned about bravery and standing up. From you saving me."

Albus immediately wrapped his arms around Ethan and hugged him as tight as he could. "Please don't leave. I know things are harder here but…"

"I'm sorry," Ethan whispered, his voice cracking a bit. "I just need to get away from here for a while that's all. Maybe I'll come back." Albus could hear the doubtful tone in his voice.

Albus could feel the warmth of Ethan's body against his. It felt nice and comforted him. The smell of fresh soap from Ethan's hair tickled his nostrils and his presence made him feel like things would be okay, that he wouldn't be losing his best friend.

Ethan pulled away however. "I have to go now, before it's too late."

Albus looked around. "Where is everyone else? Shouldn't the Headmaster be here at least?"

"I think he's outside waiting for me and besides, I think the only person who wants to say goodbye to me is you. You were my only good friend you know. Your siblings and cousins are nice and all, but we were never super close," Ethan admitted.

Ethan picked up his bags and headed towards the door. Albus followed right behind him, his hands awkwardly shoved in his robe pockets, dreading every moment.

Ethan turned and faced him, "I guess this is goodbye then."

Albus just stared at him, still not accepting this moment. "Yeah I guess it is," he answered.

Ethan put down one of his bags and reached for Albus' hand in his pocket. He gently grabbed it and intertwined it with his.

"I still love you, you know. I will never forget you Albus." Ethan spoke quietly.

Albus looked at their hands together and nodded, lost for words. Ethan squeezed his hand for a second then let go.

"I'll miss you Ethan," was all Albus finally managed to say.

Ethan sadly looked at him. "Me too. But I know you'll be able to find another friend. And not one of those frauds who are befriending you to try to meet Harry Potter. A real friend, who loves you for you, and not for who you are connected to."

"If you say so."

"I know so."

"Goodbye, Albus. Do well on your O.W.L.S for me okay?"

Albus smiled in spite of himself, "Okay. Bye Ethan."

Ethan smiled and knocked on the door as it opened up for him. He looked at Albus one last time, then walked out of Hogwarts for the last time.

Albus turned around immediately and decided to go back to the Gryffindor Common Room. There were so many feelings he had right now, sadness, anger and confusion. But has he was walking he realized something that he didn't think of before.

He remembered one of the Slytherin guys in the posse. Not the leader who hexed Ethan, but another one who was named Blake, as he could recall. He was definitely one of James' good friends, and he knew that he moved around a lot with James also.

Everything clicked all of a sudden. He knew who spread the rumours. He knew there was only one person who could have saw them kiss and who could have told the group of Slytherin guys.

It was James.

James caused all this.

Albus clenched his fists up tightly and walked faster towards the Common Room.

There was only one person he was going to talk to as soon as he got there.

It was his brother James. And it wasn't going to be pretty.


End file.
